KUALA LUMPUR: TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD [] said it would carry out a thorough internal investigation to safeguard the integrity of its procurement process and code of business ethics in the wake of allegations that its employees had received improper payments from Alcatel-Lucent S.A.
The company said on Wednesday, Dec 29 it had a zero tolerance policy towards improprieties and would take appropriate action against any of its employees, if they had received such payments.
TM said it took these allegations seriously and would extend all necessary cooperation where required to the relevant authorities.
It said this in response to an article published by an online news portal that the US Securities and Exchange Commission had charged the Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying bribes to foreign government officials to illicitly win business in Latin America and Asia.
TM said that a through a proposed board sub-committee, it would further conduct a thorough internal investigation to safeguard the integrity of its procurement process and code of business ethics.
'TM has a zero tolerance policy towards such improprieties and will take appropriate action in the event that any of our employees were indeed involved.
'TM believes that it has a robust and transparent procurement policy and adheres to policy, processes and current best practices,' it said.
The SEC alleged that Alcatel's subsidiaries used consultants who performed little or no legitimate work to funnel more than US$8 million in bribes to government officials in order to obtain or retain lucrative telecommunications contracts and other contracts.
Alcatel agreed to pay more than US$45 million to settle the SEC's charges, and pay an additional US$92 million to settle criminal charges announced today by the US Department of Justice.
The settlement covered activities in several countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, including Malaysia.
The investigation in Malaysia covers events that occurred between October 2004 and February 2006, and involve alleged improper payments to TM's employees.
The company said on Wednesday, Dec 29 it had a zero tolerance policy towards improprieties and would take appropriate action against any of its employees, if they had received such payments.
TM said it took these allegations seriously and would extend all necessary cooperation where required to the relevant authorities.
It said this in response to an article published by an online news portal that the US Securities and Exchange Commission had charged the Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying bribes to foreign government officials to illicitly win business in Latin America and Asia.
TM said that a through a proposed board sub-committee, it would further conduct a thorough internal investigation to safeguard the integrity of its procurement process and code of business ethics.
'TM has a zero tolerance policy towards such improprieties and will take appropriate action in the event that any of our employees were indeed involved.
'TM believes that it has a robust and transparent procurement policy and adheres to policy, processes and current best practices,' it said.
The SEC alleged that Alcatel's subsidiaries used consultants who performed little or no legitimate work to funnel more than US$8 million in bribes to government officials in order to obtain or retain lucrative telecommunications contracts and other contracts.
Alcatel agreed to pay more than US$45 million to settle the SEC's charges, and pay an additional US$92 million to settle criminal charges announced today by the US Department of Justice.
The settlement covered activities in several countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, including Malaysia.
The investigation in Malaysia covers events that occurred between October 2004 and February 2006, and involve alleged improper payments to TM's employees.
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