<Explanation>
What is the problem with Mr. Z’s email?
“Under the table” means a bribe. It is also known as “grease payment, facilitation payment.” Bribery is prohibited
under Japanese Criminal Law, and offering bribes to foreign government officials is prohibited under the Unfair
Competition Prevention Act. In addition, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) of the United States and
the UK Bribery Act 2010 (UKBA) are highly stringent pieces of legislation, and are both strictly enforced.
In recent years, more and more global Japanese companies have been charged with violation of the FCPA. Under
the FCPA, the fine for such a violation could amount to several billions to several tens of billions of yen. A massive
amount of money is also required to implement improvement measures, and thus, this is an important issue for
Japanese companies that operate globally. Taking or offering bribes is the same as breaching the Competition Law
with regard to causing negative impact on the company’s reputation.
With respect to Mr. Z’s email above , it could be taken that our company has no intention of paying a bribe or
giving instructions to pay a bribe to Company C, and is simply asking whether payment under the table is needed.
In that case, can we say there is no problem with the text?