DANNY DALTON: "Corruption ain't nothing more than government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption is what keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around here instead of fighting each other for scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win."

- From Syriana

OK, the movie is one of the worst I've seen this year. Think Robert Ludlum on a bad night. Still, it has some great lines and this one from Dalton really sums up the problems facing multinationals today. Bribery and corruption might be breaking the law, but the reality is it's hard to prosecute and businesses keep doing it. As Dalton says, that's why they win

The latest company to be swept up in a bribery scandal is DaimlerChrysler after an investigation found that illicit payments had been made in three continents. The company has been under investigation since last year and has been embroiled in allegations about illicit payments in the oil-for-food programme.

But the reality is that the hit rate for successful prosecutions for foreign bribery and corruption has not been that good, which is a bit of a worry given the level of investment companies are putting into "at risk" places like Indonesia.

In Australia, a new report shows that Australian companies are particularly vulnerable to being caught up in bribery scandals. The Centre for Australian Ethical Research report can be found here.

The report finds that only half the top 100 listed Australian companies have rules prohibiting bribes, compared with 92 per cent of British companies, 80 per cent of US outfits and 90 per cent of European businesses. And only one in four have rules prohibiting so-called "facilitation payments" which are generally not considered to be corrupt because they are supposed to involve small amounts of money and are purportedly used to enable routine business activities.

Under Australian law, bribing a foreign official is illegal. Facilitation payments, on the other hand, are tax deductible. It was a point taken up in an OECD report in January which urged the Australian authorities to tighten up their rules.

Australia has a great reputation for corporate governance and straight-shooting. Unfortunately, it seems to be a different story in countries where business ethics are not that strong.