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An Episode Of White Collar Briefly

By on March 22, 2021 in FCPA Inc., Has the FCPA Been Successful?, Individual Enforcement Action, Multimedia, Voluntary Disclosure
WhiteCollarBriefly

Today’s post is a recent episode of White Collar Briefly, a podcast sponsored by Perkins Coie and co-sponsored by the ABA Global Anti-Corruption Corruption.

During the podcast, I had the pleasure to visit with Chelsea Curfman and Markus Funk and talked about the following issues: my professional background; the evolution of my work; FCPA Inc.; the revolving door between the DOJ and SEC and private FCPA practice; what the end game of FCPA enforcement is and what does success actually mean; the downside of other countries modeling enforcement of their FCPA-like laws on U.S. FCPA enforcement; the lack of individual enforcement actions in connection with most corporate enforcement actions; whether FCPA enforcement will change in a Biden administration; voluntary disclosure; and whether there are any recent trends in FCPA enforcement.

For Your Listening Enjoyment

By on November 24, 2020 in Has the FCPA Been Successful?, Multimedia, Risk Aversion
headphones

Tired of reading about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?

Well, sometimes I get tired writing about the FCPA.

Thus, today’s post is this link to a recent episode of the In-House Warrior podcast. During the podcast, I speak to Richard Levick about the following FCPA topics: how compliance professionals need to gain comfort with FCPA uncertainty; FCPA enforcement during a Biden administration; whether the FCPA has been successful in achieving its objectives; what the “b” word (bribery) means; and how corporate risk aversion is, in part, part of the reason for the current FCPA enforcement landscape.

 

Survey Says …

By on October 6, 2020 in Anything of Value, Compliance, Compliance Defense, Facilitating Payments, Has the FCPA Been Successful?, Third Parties, Uncategorized, Voluntary Disclosure
Survey Results

The OECD recently released this study titled “Corporate Anti-corruption Compliance Drivers, Mechanisms and Ideas for Change.” The study largely relies on results of a survey “to better understand the extent to which companies are currently motivated to take measures to prevent and detect bribery and other forms of corruption in their business dealings.”

The survey size was very small (only 130 survey respondents – largely individuals in a legal or compliance role in their companies – with the U.S. having the most respondents – with the largest number of respondents in the healthcare industry). As a result the survey was not representative as even the report recognized: “a company that does not have a compliance program probably would not have an interest in participating in a study of such program – thus it is important to remember that the percentage of respondents who indicated that their companies have such a program is not at all indicative of the percentage of overall companies in the world that have such programs.”

Even as to this survey group, as highlighted below several survey responses caught my eye and call into question whether “soft” enforcement of the FCPA (and related laws) has been successful (see here for the article “Has the FCPA Been Successful in Achieving Its Objectives”) or whether compliance can best be incentivized with a compliance defense (see here for the article “Revisiting an FCPA Compliance Defense”).

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Friday Roundup

By on March 27, 2020 in Collateral Effects, Constellation Brands, FCPA Statistics, Has the FCPA Been Successful?, Lawrence Hoskins, Monitor, Prosecutorial Common Law
Roundup

Monitor costs, scrutiny alert, quotable, and survey says. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Monitor Costs

As highlighted in prior posts here and here, in late 2019 Ericsson resolved a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action and the $1.06 billion settlement amount was the largest net FCPA settlement amount in history. As a condition of settlement, Ericsson was required to engage an independent compliance monitor for a three-year period.

Recently, Ericsson disclosed “a provision of SEK 0.6 billion [approximately $60 million] was made to cover future monitoring costs.” (See here for the article “FCPA Ripples.”)

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Survey Results Once Again Call Into Question Whether The FCPA Has Been Successful In Achieving Its Objectives?

By on November 19, 2019 in Has the FCPA Been Successful?
questions to ask

In enacting the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Congressional leaders stated that the FCPA “would end corporate bribery” and that the goal of the FCPA was “the elimination of foreign bribery.”

Granted, politicians have long been known for making optimistic, aspirational statements, but 40+ years later there is more, not less, FCPA enforcement activity, and seemingly more, not less, exposure to corruption in the global marketplace. (For additional reading on this general topic – see here for the article titled “Has the FCPA Been Successful in Achieving Its Objectives” recently published in the Illinois Law Review).

Recent survey results from the 2019 Global Anticorruption Survey by AlixPartners once again seriously call into question whether the FCPA has been successful in achieving its objectives.

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