The DOJ’s Latest Voluntary Disclosure Guidance Is Absurd
Yet again, see here for a prior post, the Department of Justice recently revised its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) – originally released in November 2017. (See here for the current version).
As highlighted below, while two of the three revisions make sense, the revision concerning voluntary disclosure is absurd.
Let’s Analyze This For A Minute
This recent Wall Street Journal Risk & Compliance Journal post by an individual new to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act space reads in full:
“A U.S. Justice Department program that incentivizes companies to self-report foreign corruption is making headway as prosecutors look for ways to hold individuals accountable for wrongdoing, according to an official in the department’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit.”
DOJ Makes Revisions To Its FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy
As highlighted here, in November 2017 the DOJ released a non-binding FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP” – see here for the original version).
Recently, the DOJ made various revisions to the CEP (see here for the current version) and this post highlights the revisions.
Original Version
The Many Issues To Consider From The Cognizant Technology Enforcement Action
Previous posts here and here highlighted the recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Cognizant Technology Solutions and two of its former executives.
This post continues the analysis by highlighting several issues to consider.
Timeline
As highlighted in this prior post, Cognizant disclosed its FCPA scrutiny in a September 2016 SEC filing. Thus from start to finish, Cognizant’s FCPA scrutiny lasted approximately 2.5 years. While 2.5 years is shorter than recent medians of over 4 years (see here), 2.5 years is still too long for FCPA scrutiny to last.
FCPA Flash Podcast – A Conversation With Kevin Abikoff Regarding FCPA Compliance Challenges And Other Developments
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 episode is a conversation with Kevin Abikoff (Co-chair of Hughes Hubbard & Reed’s Anti-Corruption and Internal Investigations Practice Group). In the podcast, Abikoff discusses: FCPA compliance challenges; his top two legal or policy developments in 2018 in the FCPA space; and whether the FCPA has truly been successful in achieving its objectives.