Friday Roundup
Listening in, SEC work continues, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Listening In
As highlighted in this recent post, Herbalife recently disclosed that it is poised to pay $123 million to resolve its long-standing FCPA scrutiny. In a recent investor conference call, John Agwunobi (CEO of the company) stated about the company’s disclosure: “we do believe that it [the disclosure] has freed us of any material, nonpublic information that would have affected our ability to repurchase shares.”
Goes to show that FCPA scrutiny and enforcement are often entwined with other legal issues.
Assessing The Narrative That FCPA Enforcement Will Increase Post Covid-19 Crisis, Because That’s What Happened Post-Financial Crisis
There are some narratives in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act space that seem to take on a life of their own without a factual basis (see here, here and here for instance).
Once such recent narrative is that FCPA enforcement will increase post COVID-19 because a crisis presents business desperation and a greater willingness to secure business improperly. Part of the narrative is that after the so-called financial crisis of late 2008 – 2009 FCPA enforcement increased.
This post analyzes that narrative and debunks it because there is no evidence that FCPA enforcement increased circa 2010-2012 because of the financial crisis.
The OECD Working Group On Bribery Is “Going To Examine The Possible Impact And Consequences Of The Coronavirus Pandemic On Foreign Bribery”
It is fair to say that the current COVID-19 crisis has the ability to potentially impact pretty much anything in the world at this point.
Recently the OECD Working Group on Bribery (made up of representatives from the States Parties to the OECD Convention) released a statement indicating that it is “going to examine the possible impact and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on foreign bribery.”
The statement reads in full:
Friday Roundup
30 minute sentence, scrutiny alert, monitors, and silly. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
30 Minute Sentence
As highlighted here, Larry Puckett, one of several individuals associated with Alstom who was criminally charged in connection with an Indonesian bribery scheme, was recently sentenced. Puckett pleaded guilty, cooperated with the DOJ for many years, and testified for the government at the 2019 Hoskins trial.
FCPA Flash Podcast – A Conversation With Former DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew Miner On DOJ Policy During The COVID-19 Crisis
The FCPA Flash podcast provides in an audio format the same fresh, candid, and informed commentary about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related topics as readers have come to expect from written posts on FCPA Professor.
This FCPA Flash podcast episode is a conversation with Matthew Miner (Morgan Lewis – who recently served as DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division). While at the DOJ, Miner helped to develop various DOJ policy documents including its “inability to pay” guidance (see here), the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (see here), and the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (see here). During the podcast, Miner discusses how these various DOJ policies are likely to be interpreted during the COVID-19 crisis.