When Ikea was poised to open a flagship store outside Moscow in 2001, its executives were approached by employees of the public local utility. If Ikea wanted electricity for its planned grand opening, the public utility officials needed individual cash payments.
A) Ikea could pay the money as a facilitation payment and not violate any anti-bribery laws .
B) Ikea and other companies from Sweden do not follow the OECD requirements on bribery so Ikea could pay the officials and not violate any laws .
C) The payment to the public officials would be a bribe and would violate Swedish law .
D) The anti-bribery provisions apply only when a company offers to pay them, not when public officials request payments .

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The payment to the public officials would be considered a bribe and would violate Swedish law, as well as the anti-bribery laws of many other countries. Facilitation payments, or small payments made to speed up routine government actions, are not allowed under many anti-bribery laws. Additionally, the fact that the public officials requested the payment does not exempt Ikea from compliance with anti-bribery laws.

When Ikea Was Poised to Open a Flagship Store Outside