$1Bn Scam Spotlights Promoters ; LETTER FROM MUMBAI

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TO most international businessmen out here, the $1 billion Satyam scam, though shocking in its scale, will hardly be surprising.

At the very first corporate do I attended here, I met a recently arrived British managing director who was seriously unnerved, not so much that potential Indian partners admitted bribing politicians, but that several bragged about how many they had in their pockets.

Corruption is endemic in India, but the accounting and corporate governance regime has been one of the brighter spots. The role of "the promoter" in the Satyam affair makes me suspect it won't be alone, however.

Promoters company founders like Satyam's Ramalingam Raju …