The listing is a warning to US companies doing business in these countries to be on the lookout for payments to government officials. The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it a crime to give anything of value to a government official, political party or candidate for office in an effort to win or retain business. A US company will be held accountable for bribes that others pay on its behalf under a hindsight standard of whether the US company should have known part of its payments to a local consultant or joint venture partner would be passed along to a foreign official.
Scandanavian countries occupied the top three spots for “least corrupt.” The US did not make the 10 least corrupt. Transparency International is based in Berlin.
ROMANIA CUT WITHHOLDING TAXES in an effort to attract foreign investment. The new rates are 15% on royalties and payments for services and 10% on interest, except that interest received on deposits in Romanian banks is exempt. The government is also expected to eliminate a 1.5% charge on the price paid for securities in Romanian companies.