"We take all allegations brought to our attention seriously, and we cooperate fully in any government inquiries," wrote Frank, Microsoft's deputy general counsel. "Like other large companies with operations around the world, we sometimes receive allegations about potential misconduct by employees or business partners, and we investigate them fully, regardless of the source."

The investigation cited by the Journal revolves around the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 36-year-old law that forbids US companies from bribing foreign officials to close deals.

An anonymous tipster who helped Microsoft make sales in China passed along the allegations of sales misconduct to US government regulators last year, according to the Journal. The tipster alleged an executive working at Microsoft's China subsidiary authorized paying bribes to close sales, the Journal reported.

Most of the charges have been over whether Microsoft abused its position as the leading maker of personal computer software to thwart competition. The latest setback for the company came when European regulators fined 561 million euros ($733 million). Microsoft violated an agreement to provide users of PCs running on its Windows operating system with an alternative to its Internet Explorer web browser.

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