To commemorate tax season, this post looks back to the FCPA’s legislative history and the tax implications of what Congress was investigating.
Upon discovery of the foreign corporate payments problem, Congress’s first task was to determine if the payments were adequately captured by existing law or whether a new law was needed. While certain existing laws did indirectly deal with various aspects of the problem, the prevailing view was that existing laws were deficient and that a new and direct legislative remedy was needed.
The primary focus of Congress’s investigation was whether the existing securities laws, tax laws, and/or antitrust laws adequately addressed the foreign corporate payments problem.