WASHINGTON (Dow Jones/AP) ? Tyco International Ltd. has hired outside counsel to perform a company-wide review of its compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law meant to stop US companies from bribing foreign officials.

The industrial conglomerate said in its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would make periodic progress reports to the Justice Department and the SEC and present its findings after the review is completed.

Tyco said in late March it reported to both agencies the investigative steps and remedial measures it has taken in response to a number of recent allegations of improper payments.

The company said it can?t currently determine the outcome of these matters or estimate the range of potential loss or extent of risk, if any, they pose.

In 2003, the company faced an allegation that a non-US unit made improper payments from 1999 through 2003. Tyco didn?t name the unit, but it said it had revenue totalling $40 million in 2004.

With the assistance of outside counsel, Tyco conducted an internal investigation into this allegation to determine whether certain payments were correctly recorded in the books and records of the subsidiary.

The company said it took remedial steps and reported the results of the investigation to the Justice Department and the SEC, and is cooperating with their inquiries.

Tyco, which has about 250,000 employees and $40 billion in annual revenue, makes electronics and medical supplies and owns the ADT home security business.

Also in yesterday?s filing, Tyco said it had roughly 16,000 asbestos liability cases pending against it and its units as of April 1.

The company said the majority of these cases have been filed against subsidiaries in health-care and engineered products and services.

A limited number of the cases allege premises liability, based on claims that individuals were exposed to asbestos while on a subsidiary?s property.

A majority of the cases involve product liability claims, based principally on allegations of past distribution of heat-resistant industrial products that contained asbestos.

Each case typically names dozens to hundreds of corporate defendants, the filing said.

Tyco said its involvement in asbestos cases has been limited because its units didn?t mine or produce asbestos.

The company also said a large percentage of the claims never were substantiated and have been dismissed by the courts.

During the first half of fiscal 2005, Tyco undertook a detailed study of its pending asbestos claims and determined the impact of the study wasn?t material to the company?s financial position, results of operations or cash flows, the filing said.

Tyco has its headquarters in Bermuda, but now operates out of West Windsor, N.J.

Shares of the company fell six cents to $29.26 in early trading yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange.