According to reports, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun an investigation into the activities of Magyar Telekom, the Hungarian telco majority owned by Deutsche Telekom. It relates to whether Magyar Telekom violated a US law known as the Foreign Corruption Practices Act, which stops US-traded companies from paying bribes abroad. Specifically, Magyar Telekom’s subsidiary in Macedonia is suspected of giving bribes to facilitate the award of contracts. Magyar Telekom is the leading provider of ADSL broadband Internet access in Hungary and also operates an IPTV service named T-Home. Its interests in Macedonia include the local telco MakTel.
