Many American executives might let slip in an unguarded moment that tough U.S. laws against bribery and corruption put them at a disadvantage against global competitors. We may see the playing field level just a bit soon, which would be good news for U.S. companies.

In the United Kingdom, for example, the outgoing Labor government passed a new anti-bribery law to update patchwork legislation that many saw as inadequate for a global economy.

The new law defines two general offenses: offering, promising or giving an advantage; and requesting, agreeing to receive or receiving an advantage, according to TheDeal.com. "It also creates the specific offenses of bribery of a foreign public official and, controversially, failure by a commercial organization to prevent a bribe being paid on its behalf."

This move has long been overdue in the eyes of some advocates, who have been hankering for the country to essentially embrace international best practices, as defined by the OECD.

It will be interesting to see how this movement translates to other regions. One can only hope Asian countries eventually embrace anti-corruption practices. Global standards would be a good way to safeguard the global economy in this area, to the extent that is possible.

For more:
- here's the article

Related Articles:
A crime-busting CEO
Temptation abounds overseas
New financial regulation to extend whistleblower protections
One way to fix the ethics problem