strong enough action, corporate governance experts said." Eduardo Bohorquez, the director of Transparencia Mexicana, a "watchdog" group in Mexico, urged the Mexican government to investigate the allegations. Wal-Mart and the US Chamber of Commerce had participated in a campaign to amend FCPA; according to proponents, the changes would clarify the law, while according to opponents, the changes would weaken the law. Other cases are with Avon Products, Invision Technologies, BAE Systems, Baker Hughes, Daimler AG, Monsanto, Halliburton, Titan Corporation, Triton Energy Limited, Lucent Technologies. Exception As a general principle of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), in the United States, firms and businesses in the US are prohibited from making any payments to foreign officials for routine governmental action. However, any payment that does not affect the decision of the foreign official is not considered a bribe. For example, a businessman in the States may make a payment to a government official to expedite a deal or transaction. Such a payment is considered a grease payment (and not a bribe), which is lawful under FCPA. In this regard, it becomes necessary to understand when an amount paid turns from a grease payment to a bribe, which is illegal under law. This is a grey area under the law which is still to be clarified. There are numerous factors that could play a role in demarcation between the two, which include: the amount of payment, the frequency of the payment, the status/level of the foreign official to whom the payment has been made, the outcome of the case regarding which the payment was made, etc. See also Bribery Act 2010 in the United Kingdom Convention against Corruption (disambiguation) Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act in Canada Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, another international agreement OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, an international agreement Politically exposed person, a term used in several jurisdictions References External links Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (PDF/details) as amended in the GPO Statute Compilations collection Chinese businesswoman pleads guilty to bribing UN honcho Oral History, Mark B. Feldman, Association Foreign Studies and Training p. 97 https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Feldman.Mark.pdf US Department of Justice page on the FCPA Chairman Of Macau-Based Real Estate Development Company Convicted At Trial On All Counts In In Connection With United Nations Bribery Scheme Former Head Of Foundation Sentenced To 20 Months In Prison For Bribing Then-Ambassador And President Of United Nations General Assembly Former UN