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The biggest news to come out of Washington DC in recent years hit the news media this evening and demonstrates progress in an extremely important yet heavily debated subject. That of course is the passing of President Obama’s proposed health care reform bill . Congress gave the approval after a tumultuous developmental history. Only two months ago many politicians and news correspondents believed that the bill was dead and the tenacious and ethical belief driven president continued the fight. The Senate had already passed it and tonight it made it through the House with a vote of 219 to 212.

The nation, and the rest of the world, is used to hearing big news coming from Washington, and tonight is a historic making approval vote that might change the lives of many people in this country. It is the home of the White House and also the Capital Building and while many people throughout the nation frequently consider the political activities to take place in some sort of mythological arena, they are frequently surprised when the tour the actual locations when they visit DC. Most of the area hotels will have quality information on the various landmarks and attractions and this keeps tourists enthralled and captivated, as much of it is new to them.

President Obama has been promising some kind of health care reform since his campaign days and while the economic crisis and military efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and surrounding regions have occupied a great deal of his time and efforts, his has never lost sight of his promise and goal. The intention of this bill is to provide health care to the nation’s under-insured and those without insurance, which is a large and growing population. In addition to making health care more affordable, there are regulation aspects that will hold insurance providers more accountable extend health care to all citizens. The basic principles on this new bill were laid out by the President on September 9, 2009. This is a major success for his presidency.

Today, Dallas is a wonderful place to be. The locals as well as the visitors can find something to love here, any time of day or night. It’s one of the largest cities in the country, and boasts a multicultural population, making for ongoing cultural dialogues that are always heady and always in process. There are plenty of attractions for visitors of all ages, and there is also a splendid alternative scene, making for daylight enjoyments and a multitude of pleasures after dark. Visiting is very easy, as hotels can be quite lovely, and enormously accommodating.

One of the more interesting intersections here is certainly culture, and one of them is history. Most people remember the Kennedy assassination, or at least are aware that it happened in Dallas. It’s one of those black holes in history, where an event that happens in a place is so stunning, and affects so many lives, that it starts to behave as if it were its own place in time. We always go back to the event when we hear about it, and this creates a strange sense of vertigo, but it always means that we are participants in history. We are able to continue to feel the force long after the event has passed, and this gives our own present an uncanny power.

It becomes even more complex and fascinating when the iconic moment reveals itself as mutable. We remember the Zapruder film, although it’s common knowledge that there are many films of the terrible moment. When new video is released, we may not exactly re-remember the event, but a perspective is added to the weight that we carry in our minds. This suggests that the past has a kind of elasticity, and that the present is something we can participate in, and Dallas today, in its best moments, demonstrates community participation in a way the Kennedy would have liked to imagine.

When following policies regarding corruption such as bribery, extortion, money laundering and fraud, it is important that those doing the investigations as well as the companies involved in detecting and tracking suspected corrupt behavior, consistent compliance is such an important aspect of the battle, but sometimes an aspect that is difficult to maintain.  The requirements are specific, but even still they are sometimes not followed thoroughly.

As with any activity that requires a constant and diligent effort, learning to surf or learning to play the cello, the only way to ensure a proper return, meaning success, is to be consistent on a daily basis.  For companies with regards to the requirements set upon them for their responsibility for fighting terrorism the consequences of not remaining consistent are far greater that that for the aspiring cello player or surfer.  For a lax approach to following all of the laws, companies or organizations may be held responsible for criminal actions themselves.

They risk penalties, fines, prosecution and the loss of either business or the company entirely.  However, if a company can show that they have been compliant, consistently so, they will not be held liable.  The best way to maintain the constant compliance of employees is simple.  Compliance is rewarded while non compliance is punished.  This may seem to be common sense, however it is written as advice in the Sentencing Guidelines manual itself.

The guidelines suggest ideas such as incentive programs that reward thorough and complete performance with regards to ethical business practices,  and they offer advice on the disciplinary actions that are appropriate for the various levels of failing to take steps in the detection and the prevention of those criminal activities.  There are also suggestions on the course to take when the employee themselves is involved in the criminal behavior.  The guidelines allow leeway with the company for the creative solutions they come up with in order to deal with errant behavior of an employee, as well as their own creative ideas with regards to the incentive programs in regards to performance of an exemplary nature.

Consistency in practice and enforcement to ensure a company’s compliance to the rules  and regulations set up by the FCPA, which set out to deter and to stop corporate corruption, is one of the hardest aspects for these companies to follow through practicing and enforcing.  For some reason, these corporations, although they may start out in compliance, and may keep a steady pace for some time, they tend to fall into a downward spiral in not keeping consistent within their organizations.

Their efforts seem to fade and disappear over time.  The ones in charge of this enforcement seem to replace diligence with relativism, at every turn.  Sometimes this is marked by a lax adherence to the regulations, as the pressure on the company begins to grow in relation to the businesses ventures or joint agreements with prospective foreign companies threaten to walk away if the due diligence is continued.  This is especially so when that client would be a really great account to score.

The FCPA regulations have been in place for some time, enough time that foreign companies with sophisticated teams of lawyers are beginning to accuse those policies as demeaning and insulting.  If the complaints seem rational, and if the foreign company is threatening to walk away from the deal, agreement are softened, policies are not enforced, thereby weakening the obligation of the state side company to follow the guidelines of compliance, sometimes by just a little bit, sometimes by quite a lot.

This has been the case too, in dealings with countries that are staunchly and strictly nationalistic, such as Russia or China.  Representatives from these two countries state that the laws of the FCPA are insulting, not only to their own legal systems, but to their own personal selves, inferring that they perceive the guidelines and the following of those guidelines as accusations, or that they themselves are not duly diligent.  In any case, it seems that if these foreign companies that are putting up such a struggle would not do so, where they to be operating and conducting business above board.  It just leads one to wonder, just what may they be so afraid of?

When a financial institution is connected with terrorist financing, this will most likely be the end of that institution’s lifespan. In the world today, not only is there a legal response to acts of terrorism and those who provide the funds for those acts, but there is an emotional response as well. In the years following the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, and the current times of the acts of terrorism in other countries being broadcast on the nightly news and spread across the Internet, the public is now more aware than any of the effects that corruption and terrorism has on human lives.

When an institution or a company is linked in any way to such activities it will have disastrous effects on their reputation, and on the country in which they are located as well. All those involved in having business relations with others, with strangers, need to be aware of the steps to take in order to ensure that this does not happen.

There are certain policies that all American banks and corporations follow such as the “know your customer” policy set up by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. And while the steps taken as laid out by the Act are considered to be policies and procedures, the act of not following the guidelines is a federal crime, punishable to the same extent of the law as are those who commit the acts of corruption themselves are. For when an institution fails to follow the concept of due diligence, if their employees become lazy in their efforts to fully examine those in which they are about to do business with, the ramifications are devastating. Innocent companies can meet their ruin by simply failing to do their jobs consistently and by not keeping accurate records of the transactions in which they are a part.

Corruption is wide spread.  And while many steps are being taken to end it, those steps need to be followed consistently and efficiently.  One way in which companies do this is to ensure that their employees are following regulatory compliance procedures, that they do not become lax nor lazy with regards simply, to how they do their job.  This means that any goal that one has, or project, or the following of company procedures, is done so in a way that all those involved are aware of the necessary steps to be taken, and are giving their all towards following those steps on a regular basis.

Such cases as the 2001 Enron scandal, or in the current corruption scandal involving the Bank of Tanzania, CEO’s and presidents of the corporations in the United States, and throughout the world, finding it necessary that these guidelines are followed specifically so that they themselves do not end up in the same situation.  The rules must be made clear, must have exact definitions so that there are no misunderstandings.

This is true for not only publicly owned companies, but the governments of the countries of the world as well.  For many years it was not easy to understand just what the definition of being effectively compliant meant.  However, when one is trying to set up a plan for their own company there are many resources for them to draw information from.  Guidelines for setting up a plan can be found by reading the United States Sentencing Commission.  Chapter eight of that document outlines procedures one can go about taking in order to make certain that their plan is effective and efficient.

One such Internet site, set up by the United States Small Business Administration not only lists several suggestions, but also provides specific detail about where one may go to find out more information.  There are many companies as well, that specialize in the audits of the internal business procedures, and will offer their assistance in ensuring that a company’s plan is effective.

The quantification of the dollar amount concerning the effects of political corruption is an impossible task.  The quantitative effects can not be determined.  Research experts have used a variety of methods in their attempts to put a dollar amount on the severity of the effects, empirical methods and regression analyses, the truth of the matter is that it is virtually and literal impossible to truly calculate.  No politician keeps a record on the amount of money they budget in each month for paying off bribes.

This is one kind of annual investment that will not appear on the books.  On top of that, there are many forms of bribery, from presents given, to promises made to favors fulfilled.  How can one put a price on such esoteric happenings?  The best that the researchers can do is to find ways in which to correlate the economic development, or the degradation of social systems and the condition of the environment to the corruption levels already known to exist for any given region or country or system.

And while the ramifications on the social structure is the most destructive aspect of political corruption, this remains to the aspect that is the hardest to determine, the least quantifiable of them all.  What does it cost a society when a famous scientist, or a famous ballet dancer, refuses to visit the country and share their talents?  And to try to put that loss into a dollar amount does nothing in comparison to what it does to the human spirit of a society.

In the history of the state of Arizona, the ideas and the actions of politicians such as Evan Mecham,   caused the cancellations of such simple things as rock concerts.  Well known and respected bands refused to play in Phoenix, such as U2,  and it showed in the loss of the spirit of the community, and the loss in their belief in their governing parties.  How does one go about trying to quantify something such as that?

Bribery.  This is a form of corruption that affects the world of business and the world of politics.  The definition of bribery is any form of payment that is accepted or offered that is deemed improper.  When conducting business with foreign countries and companies, the defense of accepting or offering such payments has been that cultural differences account for misunderstanding, that customs in other cultures vary from the culture of the United States and what may be seen as a simple gift in another country is seen as a criminal act of bribery in the United States.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act outlines the specifications regarding what constitutes a bribe, and the definitions are very clear.  These laws apply domestically to any entity or individual who conducts business with governments and/or corporations abroad.  A domestic concern refers to all nationals, residents and citizens of the United States.  It also refers to any partnership, association, un-incorporated organization, or sole proprietor of a business that is located within the United States or those that are involved with American businesses.

This also applies to territories and commonwealths of the U.S.  All of those divisions mentioned above are held liable and accountable for their actions, which involve not only physical actions, but those conducted through the U.S. Mails services, the phone, and the correspondence by use of any technological means, such as faxes and emails.  The laws and regulations apply to those actions that are taken outside of the United States, when such actions are involving U.S. companies or members of the U.S. government.  These laws and regulations are meant to protect the integrity of the United States, through the ensuring of ethical business transactions and political actions.  These are intended not only for moral reasons, but for economic reasons as well, for when a business or a country gains the reputation of conducting corrupt transactions, other companies and countries take their business elsewhere, leaving the accused in danger of economic ruin.

One of the programs of the United States government, created to track down terrorists and those fund them, can frighten customers unnecessarily.  The critics of the suspicious activity report claim that those who are conducting legitimate transactions are being victimized by the financial institutions.  They claim that the paperwork created by the filing of the reports is useless and is burdensome to those who are employed by such institutions.  A burden with the financial cost of billions of dollars and creates work that they deem time consuming and not necessary.  The reality is that the system and the procedures that are required, are ways in which the funding of terrorists and the crime of laundering money are detected.  Another aspect that has people frightened is that is against the law for those filing the reports to inform those about which the report is being filed against.

Reports are generated when activities take place that are considered to be not of ordinary circumstances.  If they are transactions that the customer is not usually known to make, the personnel is required to file a report.  This can be related to being pulled over due to a traffic violation.  A law enforcement officer may see a driver weaving and having difficulty controlling their vehicle.  The may pull the driver over under the suspicion that the driver is impaired, when in fact perhaps the steering or the transmission of the care has gone out.  When the facts are uncovered the truth is revealed.  The Suspicious Activity Report is extremely regulated.  If no crime is being committed, evidence will be gathered that supports that innocence.  People who are truly doing nothing wrong, need not be nervous or afraid.  These reports have resulted in the interruption of funding for those who were intending not only crimes that break the laws of the nation, but crimes against humanity without regards to moral or ethical action.

During the years following the September 11th terrorist attack on the United States, governments around the world are creating the means and the organizations which create difficulties to those involved in the financing of terrorist activities.  One of the elements used in the fight against money laundering and other forms of financial corruption is the Suspicious Activity Report.  This has become one of the most important and one of the most valuable tools, as the reports will allow the proper law enforcement agencies access to the information that will serve to further their investigations.

Throughout the world, criminals have been laundering money, for decades, as a way to conceal their criminal activities.  Such activities include the trafficking of drugs, financial fraud such as tax evasion and scams, and even the funding of terrorist cells.  To not address the activity of money laundering, is to allow the criminals free reign to keep on conducting their business, giving power to the drug dealers, the arms dealers and the terrorists which threaten the lives of innocent citizens on a daily basis.  Not stopped, their criminal gains will look legitimate through the process of laundering the funds.

Suspicious Activity Reports should be filed when a company or an individual suspects that the funds being deposited, or when certain transactions are suspected to revolve around such illegal and criminal activity.  Aspects to look out for are really common sense situations.  If money deposited smells like chemicals or has a strange odor or if a young kid walks into a bank with a bag full of money, attempting to deposit it and set up a wire transfer.

If one notices that a customer is sending and receiving transfers of large sums of money to and from various individuals.  Certain amounts of cash transactions require employees to fill out Currency Transaction Reports, and it goes without saying, that should a customer attempt to bribe an employee to not fill out the report, that would warrant the filing of an SAR.  Human behavior plays a large role, and noticing signs of fraudulent activities can save the institution from loss of integrity and possible criminal connections to those committing the crimes.