Desired Attributes For The Next DOJ FCPA Unit Chief
While I have a different perspective regarding the tenure of certain prior DOJ FCPA Unit Chiefs (see here for the prior post), I enjoyed Paul Pellitier’s (a former Principal Deputy Chief of the DOJ’s fraud section) recent post regarding the desired qualifications for the next DOJ FCPA Unit Chief and second many of his recommendations.
This post adds to the desired attributes for the next DOJ FCPA Unit Chief (and for that matter any DOJ or SEC FCPA enforcement attorney in a supervisory position).
Business Chops
It’s been said that when you possess a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail.
The analogy should be obvious to the FCPA enforcement context and thus prior prosecution experience is not necessarily a desired attribute for the next FCPA Unit Chief (as it has been for others previously in this position).
Rather, it would be nice to see an FCPA Unit Chief with bona fide, real-world business chops.
The Numbers Prove That The DOJ’s FCPA Pilot Program Is Really Nothing New
Prior posts (here, here and here) have discussed the DOJ’s “new” Foreign Corrupt Practices Act “pilot program” including the fact that the DOJ’s latest attempt to reward voluntary disclosure and cooperation is nothing new (see here).
This post highlights, through the use of the DOJ’s own numbers, that the DOJ’s offer to perhaps extend:
(i) up to a 50% reduction off the minimum amount suggested by the guidelines to companies that voluntarily disclose, cooperate and remediate; and
(ii) up to 25% reduction off the minimum amount suggested by the guidelines to companies that cooperate and remediate even in the absence of voluntary disclosure
is nothing new either.
In short, both in terms of rhetoric and substance, the DOJ’s FCPA “pilot program” is really not “new.”
Wells Fargo Head Of Anti-Bribery & Corruption Governance Pens Open Letter To DOJ Compliance Counsel With Suggestions On How The DOJ Can Do Better
Kudos to Jonathan Rusch (Senior V.P. and Head of Anti-Bribery & Corruption Governance at Wells Fargo) for doing something few in-house counsel would ever think of doing – penning an open letter to the DOJ for how it can do its job better.
Prior to his current position at Wells Fargo, Rusch was previously the Deputy Chief for Strategy and Policy at the DOJ Fraud Section for over 25 years.
In this “Memorandum to the Compliance Counsel, United States Department of Justice” published by the Harvard Business Law Review Online, Rusch begins his 18 page memo to DOJ Compliance Counsel Hui Chen in pertinent part as follows.
What You Need To Know About The DOJ’s “New” FCPA “Pilot Program”
This previous post first reported the DOJ’s announcement of a “new” Foreign Corrupt Practices Act “pilot program” and contained a general observation regarding the announcement.
Future posts will continue to analyze and provide commentary on the “pilot program.”
This post accepts the “pilot program” for what it is and sets forth in Q&A format, based on the DOJ’s own information, what you need to know about the program.
The user-friently Q&A is published as a courtesy to the legal and compliance community.
DOJ Announces “New” One-Year FCPA “Pilot Program”
For over a decade, DOJ officials have tried to motivate business organizations to voluntarily disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
In what should be seen as an acknowledgement that such long-standing efforts have not been as successful as the DOJ might hope, in a press conference this morning, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell and DOJ Fraud Section Chief Andrew Weissmann announced a new one-year Foreign Corrupt Practices Act “pilot program.”
According to the DOJ officials, the purpose of the “pilot program” is provide guidance to DOJ FCPA prosecutors about resolutions in corporate FCPA cases and to motivate companies to self-disclose and fully cooperate with the DOJ’s fraud section in FCPA enforcement actions.
Prior to summarizing the press conference (which I attended via telephone) let me offer my own two cents.
“To knowledgeable observers, there is little that is new in today’s DOJ announcement of a “pilot program”. Just by holding a press conference and ascribing a new label to something, does not make something new. The objectives of the DOJ are laudable, however if the DOJ best wants to accomplish its objectives, this new “pilot program” is not the best answer. Rather, as current Fraud Section Chief Andrew Weissmann (and several other former high-ranking DOJ officials) have recognized, an FCPA compliance defense is the best incentive to get companies to voluntary disclose FCPA violations by employees or agents within its organization. For additional information on how such an approach can best position the DOJ to better achieve its policy objectives, see prior posts here and here.”