1474 "B" for Bribery

I was reading a business article the other day reporting on one of the various malfeasances one of our big corporations had perpetrated. Whatever happened to business ethics, by the way? Has it gone completely the way of non-creative bookkeeping?
The story was that IBM was paying $10 million to settle with U.S. regulators, who had charged the computer titan with bribing Chinese and Korean government officials to win contracts.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged that in one incident, IBM actually paid a South Korean official $19,000 to buy hardware at inflated prices. That's right, 19 thousand dollars. This from the same Securities and Exchange Commission that ignored Billion Dollar Ponzier Bernie Madoff and Trillion Dollar Credit Swapper AIG.
Then again, those abuses were perpetrated against U.S. folks, lots of them oldsters trying to scrape together a decent retirement before their 401ks cratered. Much more important we look good to the South Koreans and Chinese.
After all, they own all our debt.
Since when does the Securities and Exchange Commission care what we do in foreign countries? Not that we shouldn't behave responsibly wherever we do business but, you know, let's put a broom to the pavement of Wall Street before we try sweeping the dirt on country roads.
There's another interesting spin to the whole thing. IBM settled. Not willing to have the "B" in their initials stand for Bribery, they paid the Feds with no admission of guilt.
But here's the deal: I'm okay having a trial, being judged guilty, and paying a fine. But paying so you don't go to trial at all? I once did that to an official to escape a charge in a foreign country.
I believe we called that, um, bribery.
America, ya gotta love it.