Section A Bribery and Business Ethics.doc

Section A Bribery and Business Ethics Background Information 1. Chrysler Corporation: Chrysler Corporation, founded in 1924, used to be one of the three largest American automobile manufacturers whose brands include both passenger and commercial vehicles such as Chrysler, Jeep? and Dodge. The other two largest American automobile manufacturers are General Motors and Ford. In addition to auto making, Chrysler is also engaged in financial services, providing loan services (mostly) to car buyers. In 1998 it merged with Daimler-Benz AG (of Germany) (best known for its Mercedes-Benz brand name) to become part of the DaimlerChrysler Corporation, which is jointly owned by European, U.S. and other international investors. For more information about Chrysler Corporation and its history. 2. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): A U.S. government agency, whose mission is to protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities markets. The Commission was set up by the U.S. Congress in 1933 in response to the aftermath of the “Black Monday”, the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929. It purpose was to restore investor confidence in the U.S. capital markets by providing more structure and government oversight. It is based on the concept that all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals, should have access to certain basic facts about an investment prior to buying it. To achieve this, the SEC requires public companies to disclose meaningful financial and other information to the public, which provides a common pool of knowledge for all investors to use to judge for themselves if a company’s securities are a good investment. It is believed that only through the steady flow of timely, comprehensive and accurate information can people make sound investment decisions. At present the SEC is comprised of five presidentially-appointed Commissioners, four Divisions and 18 Offices, with a total of about 3,100 staff. 3. International Chamber of Comm