[Vnbiz] Intel Vietnam refuses to pay bribes

Wed Aug 15 17:41:01 PDT 2007

Dear HPP,

Personally, i'd just like to respectfully note, first, before Anh Hoanh
feels any need to reply, that as far as i know or would expect, neither this
list nor any member of it is a client of Anh Hoanh or his firm.  As such,
i'd suggest we cannot expect Anh Hoanh to perform any extra research or
assign any of this staff to perform such research for this list.

Second, IMHO, no lawyer today can be expected to know or remember the
content, histories, applications and exceptions of every law, even those he
or she encounters, and especially not those with which he or she has only
had limited, indirect contact, as Anh Hoanh had said was his experience with
the FCPA(?).

If Anh Hoanh chooses to spend any time at all either commenting on this
thread or doing any extra research to answer people's legal questions here,
it would purely be a sense and act of gracious charity.  He could not be
expected to do so out of any sense of obligation or responsibility to this
list or its members.

I hope that i haven't come across in this response as harsh.  I did not
intend to be.  And please pardon me if i misinterpreted your message below,
but i felt it was somewhat unfairly tried to impose an obligation on Anh
Hoanh that he has no need to feel.

If anything, i'd think anyone gaining any useful legal information from any
lawyer posting to this list should feel quite grateful, if not slightly
indebted to them for their "pro bono" contributions.  Aside from the
economic rationale i proposed earlier for today's high cost of consultative
time from lawyers in advanced nations, ie, to keep too much of that time
from being bought up by the extra-ordinary incomes of illicit economic
actors, obviously the sheer volume of laws and their contexts in advanced
nations will require a modern lawyer's time to be quite costly indeed if
their advice is to be both accurate and relatively comprehensive.

With sincerely warm regards,
Andi

On 8/16/07, Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
> Dear anh Hoanh,
> You can't have it both ways claiming to be a heavy-dosed corporate lawyer
> and saying that FCPA is not your expertise.
> When a lawyer doesn't know some part of the law, he does research (or get
> the paralegal to do it for him).
> How many cases were successfully prosecuted?  You may also want to find
> out  about FCPA's exceptions.
> I am saying that FCPA is not a good law, it is great.  But I think we need
> to be careful to match principle with action if we wish to avoid being
> perceived as hypocrites.
> "Our lawyer told me so or our accountant told me" so are not legal
> defense.
> Companies' main goal is to maximize profits.  Being careful not to run
> afoul of the law does not deviate from that goal if being caught and
> prosecuted hurt the bottom line.  Otherwise, if the penalty is light,
> companies will make the conscious decision to brake law and pay the fines.
>  Its ethical when defined as rules and standards, but not moral principles
> or values.
> HPP
>
>
>  *"Tran Dinh Hoanh" <tdhoanh at gmail.com>*
> Sent by: vnbiz-bounces at mail.saigon.com
>
> 08/15/2007 12:09 PM  Please respond to
> vnbiz at vietlinks.net
>
>   To
> vnbiz at vietlinks.net  cc
>
>  Subject
> Re: [Vnbiz] Intel Vietnam refuses to pay bribes
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
> Dear Brother Phong & CACC,
>
> FCPS is not my area of expertise so I can't tell how often it is enforced.
>  But I have worked on the defense of a FCPS prosecution by the US
> government.  Executives of a beer company of the US paid tons of money and
> gifts to the generals of a Middle East country to have that country's army
> buy their beer.  Later there was a fallout among the US executives and one
> of the guys talked to the US government.  A major investigation and
> prosecution followed.  I worked on the defense team.
>
> The other thing is that in the US international trade conferences I
> attended over the years, US companies usually complain that they cannot
> compete overseas because other countries' companies are free to follow
> "local customs" (concerning corruption), but US companies cannot do that
> (But, US companies also know that the FCPS is supposed to help them compete
> internationally by giving them the reputation of clean and ethical business
> practices).  So, the FCPS effect on US companies is real.  It is not a
> pretext for anything.
>
> Another thing most people don't think about is that US companies rely very
> heavily on lawyers in doing business.   And when they have a lawyer around,
> the first thing they say when troubles happen is that "Hey, I talked to our
> lawyer over that, and he said it was OK."  So the lawyer is ALWAYS the first
> scape goat.  Because of that, most US corporate lawyers are very careful in
> advising client.  I was one of them.  We always stay on the safe side and
> tell the client clearly what is illegal or illegal and tell them to stay
> clearly within the limit of the law, and we always put down our advise in
> writing, so that later no one can point the finger at us "Hey, my lawyer
> said it was OK."  So US lawyers operate most of the time as a big legal
> break on his client's aggressiveness.
>
> I was in the heavy-dosed corporate world for some years and realized that
> most US corporations are much more ethical than people realize.
>
> Have a great day!
>
> Hoanh
>
>
>
> ___________
>
> From: *Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov* <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov>
> To: *vnbiz at vietlinks.net* <vnbiz at vietlinks.net>
> Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:35:45 -0400
> Subject: Re: [Vnbiz] Intel Vietnam refuses to pay bribes
>
> Perhaps anh Hoanh can show how many times the FCPA have been used in court
> since its inception.
> Its real value is as a tool for U.S. businesses to sidestep "requests" for
> "payments".
> Here's my own practical approach to thinking about corruption in general:
> Companies, people will decide whether or not to engage in corruption based
> on their own interests.
> They will if the benefits outweight the costs and vice versa.
>
> A set of anti-corruption laws must be in place.
> A free and independent press plays the most important role in exposing
> corruption.
> A fair, competent, and independent court is necessary to prosecute
> corruption.
> Vietnam has the first element in place, the second element is partially in
> place but still weak, and the third element still weaker.
>
> In this context, Intel Vietnam's action is smart and logical:  it is
> simply immunizing itself against corruption, witnessed by both the USG and
> GVN.
> This is much easier done for large multinational companies than for small
> businessess.
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
> Washington DC _______________________________________________
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