SEC Co-Director Of Enforcement Peikin On International Cooperation
Recently Steven Peikin (Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division) delivered this speech in which he talked about international cooperation and how it is “critical to the SEC’s civil law enforcement success” including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act space.
In addition, Peikin stated that “vigorous enforcement of the FCPA remains a high priority for the SEC.”
Lisa Osofsky (Director Of U.K. Serious Fraud Office) Speaks On A Variety Of Topics
U.S. enforcement officials are not the only ones who speak at FCPA conferences hosted by for-profit conference firms. (See here). “Foreign officials” do as well.
So let’s see, the conference firms are “domestic concerns” under the FCPA, a speaking slot is a thing of value, the foreign law enforcement official is a “foreign official,” and the thing of value to the foreign official helps drive attendance to the conference firm’s paid event. But, I digress.
Recently, Lisa Osofsky (Director of the U.K. Serious Fraud Office) delivered this speech at an FCPA conference and touched upon the following topics: SFO priorities, international cooperation, corporate cooperation and integrity, and the SFO’s use of technology.
Deputy AG Rosenstein On A Variety Of FCPA Issues
It is the end of November.
Thus, as sure as the sun rises in the east and dogs bark, our Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement officials allowed themselves to be used as marketing props by a for profit conference firm to drive attendance to its paid event. (See here for how the selling of FCPA enforcement officials needs to stop).
In other words, a DOJ enforcement official spoke at ACI’s FCPA conference yesterday.
In this speech, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein talked about the rule of law, the DOJ’s no-piling on policy, the importance of individual prosecutions, and announced a tweek to DOJ policy regarding cooperation credit. Instead of requiring companies to identify every employee involved in criminal conduct, the DOJ’s new policy calls for companies to identify “every individual who was substantially involved in or responsible for the criminal conduct.”
DOJ’s Cronan On The “Importance Of Law Enforcement And Private Industry Working Together” (With Rebuttal Points)
Yesterday, DOJ Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Cronan delivered this speech “about the importance of law enforcement and private industry working together in pursuit of common, shared objectives.”
Cronan’s speech touched upon a number of topics including the DOJ’s FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy, so-called declinations, transparency in law enforcement, and merger and acquisition issues. This post excerpts the speech and provides various rebuttal points.
Identifying Chinese Companies For FCPA Violations Conflicts With The OECD Convention
Perhaps it is neither here nor there 40 years later, but the FCPA’s legislative history is clear that Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act motivated primarily by selfish foreign policy reasons, not altruistic do-good reasons. (See here for the article “The Story of the FCPA”).
I was reminded of this when reading this recent DOJ press release announcing its China Initiative. Among the ten specifically identified components of the initiative is the following: “identify Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases involving Chinese companies that compete with American businesses.”