And The Best FCPA Lawyer Is …
The short answer is how the heck would I know and what criteria would even be used?
Is one a “best” FCPA lawyer if one assists a business organization with a compliance program that effectively manages and minimizes risk such that the company is never under FCPA scrutiny and resolves an enforcement action?
Is one a “best” FCPA lawyer if one conducts a multi-million dollar internal investigation or is this “boiling the ocean” and deserving of a “worst” FCPA lawyer?
FCPA Flash Podcast – A Conversation With Machua Millett Regarding FCPA Insurance
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 Machua Millett (Chief Innovation Officer, FINPRO US Marsh) regarding FCPA insurance. In 2012, FCPA Professor published this Q&A with Millett regarding the topic and in the podcast Millett provides an update on the relevant issues.
Friday Roundup
Funny, scrutiny alerts and updates, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Funny
According to the FCPA Blog, there is “nothing too complicated or expensive” about FCPA compliance.
That’s funny because on a daily basis FCPA Blog content is flanked by approximately 20 blinking and flashing ads from FCPA Inc. participants.
Flip-Flop On The Merits Of Voluntary Disclosure
Based on conversations I’ve had with several Foreign Corrupt Practices Act practitioners (those in law firms and those in companies), one common frustration with FCPA enforcement is the extent to which government enforcement attorneys say one thing while with the government and then say another thing (often contradictory) when they leave the government.
The below flip-flop example concerning the merits of voluntary disclosure is not the only example (see here for a similar prior post), yet represents the latest example.
FCPA Inc. Desperately Needs Some Basic Standards
In 2010 I coined the term “FCPA Inc.” as shorthand term used to describe a vibrant, niche industry consisting of numerous market participants and not just lawyers. Regardless of what you think of the term, FCPA Inc. has become part of the FCPA lexicon and it is undisputed that FCPA Inc. is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Most mature niche industries have basic standards (a common language if you will) concerning basic issues relevant to the industry. However, FCPA Inc. has none and it resembles the wild west in many instances.
Consider the following basic question: how many corporate enforcement actions were there last year and how much money did the U.S. government collect in those enforcement actions? As highlighted below, certain FCPA Inc. participants have answered this question four different ways.