FRIM THE OPEN DOOR, CORRUPTION RELEASED

 FROM THE OPEN DOOR, CORRUPTION RELEASED

In the midst of hundreds of executive decrees of the new American government, there is one that, after the initial comments, went unnoticed: the one that suspends the validity of a law that prohibits corruption practices abroad. This 1977 law prohibited U.S. companies from bribing civil servants from third countries. Since 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice has sued companies for an act of corruption worth 30 billion dollars. And among the champions are Petrobras and Odebrecht. In fact, according to a Stanford University study on corruption in the world, between 2015 and 2024, Brazil won the silver medal.

The member countries of the OECD, which brings together 45 countries that represent 70% of the world's productive wealth, and which made its anti-corruption rules in 1997, follow this primer well. From 1999 to 2023, 1300 individuals and 400 companies were penalized. Even so, in the country of freedom, equality and fraternity, France, it took 20 years to sue a company. In Germany, the centenary Siemens had a scandal of the proportions of its own history. And in Brazil, to remember Lava Jato is to remember.

The Trump government's decision, which has always implied with this law, not only generates legal uncertainty with the ongoing processes, but also with the future of practices and ethics in the business world. In short, if American companies are free to pay tuition fees with the excuse that it makes them more competitive, then everyone can do it. You can't do it at home, but you can do it at the neighbor's. And there is no doubt that the corrupt are celebrating, ready to welcome the corruptors with open arms. It became a party.

Let's see how the OECD will react, of which Brazil is not part, and which has not yet suffered push-ups from Trump. This North American debauchery hurts what is most sacred in this organization. It also hurts the principle of trust in the business world, in addition to weakening the governance of both business and the countries themselves. And there is an economic cost, because who will pay the increase in costs, the bribe is cost, it is the consumer, the country in the infrastructure. In summary, investment costs will increase. We have already seen these examples in Brazil when a director of an electricity concessionaire justified the increase in the cost of a plant by 400% by inflation in dollars. To steal they justify everything.

The chaos began with the door open and with the fragility of political systems and especially the legal ones, we will regress not only in the fight against corruption, but in establishing a society of values in businesses that solidify the democratic system instead of eroding the stability of the country. And what are we going to teach the next generations: honesty, work, competence or how to do corrupt business? MBA in structured operations.