IBM Settles Bribery Charge With $10 Million
Money, money, money / Must be funny / In the rich man's world
IBM has received a slap on the wrist from the U.S. regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the form of a $10 million fine.
The fine addresses the SEC's belief that IBM used bribes in its business dealings in South Korea and China.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, IBM employees in South Korea paid 16 government officials a total of $207,000 in cash bribes from 1998 to 2003 to secure the sale of mainframes and personal computers. The cash was supposedly stuffed into shopping bags and IBM envelopes and then handed over in secret meetings in parking lots.
IBM is also accused of providing personal vacations for Chinese government officials from 2004 to early 2009. IBM employees in China supposedly created a slush fund at travel agencies to pay for vacation and sightseeing packages.
The $10 million settlement with the SEC is composed of $5.3 million in disgorged profit, $2.7 million in interest and a penalty of $2 million.
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Lol @ IBM
Big surprise. Business ethics in Korea/China are almost non-existent.
Funny fact: Almost all Korean owned nail salons and dry cleaners tax evade. I get to look at many of their private statements... lets just say with their claimed income paying rent would not be possible but the amount is always paid. Usually they do this by not claiming all business done in cash.
I like how the punishment for bribery is a forced bribe.
I've no doubt that they made more than that through the deal. Someone else just wanted a cut and going through the SEC keeps it on the up and up.
Yeah, because of money you can make a man walk barefoot into hell.
Yeah, because of money you can make a man walk barefoot into hell.
ill walk barefoot into hell if you pay me enough
ill walk barefoot into hell if you pay me enough
I'll drive there you in my sin-wagon
Bribery is common place in those parts of the world really. I once knew a person working for twinnings' indian branch, and they've set up specific budgets for bribery (mostly to ensure their packages don't get lost in transit I'm sure)
Oh, the irony. Want to do something illegal? Incorporate.
They probably made more money off the benefits of the dealings overall than this fine.
lol @ ABBA's reference in the tittle xD
What I find to be strange is that a US government agency is fining them for actions that may or may not be illegal in the countries in which they were committed. It seem to me that they should only be able to fine them if those things were done in the US..
its more open in those countries but bribes do exist in the usa dt fool yourselves, its just more exclusive and corporate
Paying people off to settle a bribe...
Makes perfect sense.
10 million? What is it, like 10 cents to them!
its more open in those countries but bribes do exist in the usa dt fool yourselves, its just more exclusive and corporate
Yea, we have a name for that: Lobbying.
You can do anything you like, legal or otherwise, as long as you pay the right parasites. Pay first, it's a bribe; pay after, it's a fine (or a tax).
That is why Politics and Businesses must coexists. No money, no power.
Yea, we have a name for that: Lobbying.
Damn Straight. There's not as much money in an envelope style bribery in big business inside the US these days. Most of it is done by taking a consulting job with a company later on. Do enough for a company? Get a job later on for a few years being paid to do nothing. Hell, I bet they even write up your reports for the IRS.
That's just how business is done there, the SEC must've been jealous.
Re. Alyon's comment ("Big surprise. Business ethics in ...China are almost non-existent"), absolutely true. Chinese business is *FOUNDED* on a culture of instant/selfish gain (rather than long-term/cooperative benefit). "Relationship! Relationship!" I'm sick of hearing it. We're owed forty-thousand dollars. Once labor in China ceases to be "free," and external costs (like *&%^% on the earth) become realized, China may remain a great market, but it will become a crappy producer as the "true cost" of cockamamie Chinese business practices are realized.
The fine is actually because the bribes paid to Chinese officials was bigger than the bribes paid to the SEC guys and they were mad.
Ever wonder how congressmen afford private jets and mansions on 400k a year? Its a good wage but not nearly enough for the lifestyles they have.
New headline:
IBM pays $10M to have US government "forgive" bribery charges.
i guess the SEC doesn't understand how the rest of the world works, look at what america had to do in iraq, afganista and pakistan just to go in and do something that needed to be done. 660million a year total
[citation][nom]alyon[/nom]Big surprise. Business ethics in Korea/China are almost non-existent.citation]
Do you think it's any different in america?
@Dark_lord69
Different, yes. Non-existent, no. The Korean business owners I was making an example of were all American based. Bribery in America is best labeled as lobbying (as stated above). America is probably one of the most strict areas for bribery though.
Ah, so much money flowing around... it must be nice to be able to buy solutions to your problems.
It happens all around the world with all sort of business and it's not restricted to big companies such as IBM.
That seems like a pretty good deal for IBM to get their foot in the door in China. Hell now that they have there foot in the door they may have turned there selves in to use this as ammo to say we can't offer any more bribes.
What I find to be strange is that a US government agency is fining them for actions that may or may not be illegal in the countries in which they were committed. It seem to me that they should only be able to fine them if those things were done in the US..
Well put. Funny how everyone -- including me -- missed that part. Reminds me of the Sklyarov case, when a Russian programmer working for a Russian company in Russian was arrested for breaking the DMCA. Fortunately the jury saw sense and acquitted.
To all who say this is how it works in some parts of the world, it's true, and worse.
Ever witnessed being openly told by the one in charge they want 60% of what the whole project will cost as PERSONAL fee, otherwise the other candidates will get the project and will pay the 60% also but will do a worse job and will still have a gain... after seeing that, blood boiling and all, the rest of bribery cases seem rather small *sighs*