Crude Summit: Tillerson objects to changing bribery law

Former US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said the US should not water down a law that prohibits US companies from bribing foreign officials.

"I think it would be very unwise to roll back the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)," Tillerson said at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston, Texas, today.

White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow, in remarks to reporters last month, said the administration is looking to modify the 1977 law, which requires accounting transparency and bars US individuals from paying bribes to win contracts overseas.

Kudlow said the idea followed complaints from US companies. But Trump has long been a critic of the statute, once famously describing it as a "horrible" law.

US energy companies are among those most likely to be affected by any change to the FCPA, as they often compete for business in countries where foreign competitors need not follow similar rules. Tillerson handled numerous international business deals while serving as chief executive at ExxonMobil.

Congress has shown no appetite for amending the law, although the administration has some latitude over enforcement.

Kudlow said the administration is working to change the law as part of a "package of reforms" to decrease regulatory burdens, but he noted that no final decisions have been made.

Tillerson cited the challenge to the FCPA while talking about his broader concerns about political, corporate and individual ethics.

"In the US we have a crisis of ethics and integrity," he said. "I worry that in this country it has become more acceptable to cheat. It has become more acceptable to be untruthful."

That lack of trust makes it difficult to address significant global issues.

"How do you solve our greatest challenges in the world if there is no level of trust?" Tillerson said. "Our leaders simply have the inability to be honest with one another. And more importantly, they seem to have the inability to be honest with their constituents, the people they are there to serve. That has to change."

By Tom Fowler