Keppel scandal holds lessons for Singapore Inc

Singapore

SINGAPORE Inc's rejection of corruption in business cannot be anything but unequivocal, yet the realities of operating overseas in markets and sectors where such lines are not so clearly drawn pose real challenges for local companies, observers say.

Nothing illustrates this more clearly than the recent hefty US$422 million fines imposed on Keppel Corporation's offshore and marine unit, Keppel Offshore & Marine (KOM), for making corrupt payments in Brazil.

The US Department of Justice, which led investigations, said KOM had engaged in a scheme from 2001 to 2014 to pay US$55 million in bribes to Petrobras officials and the then governi…