Must See Video Clips From Assistant AG Caldwell’s Recent FCPA Speech
Kudos to C-SPAN for broadcasting Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell’s recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act speech and related Q&A. (See here and here for prior posts). The broadcast represents a valuable public service to the FCPA community compared to the norm where DOJ/SEC FCPA officials appear at private events in which the public has to pay to hear their public officials speak about important topics (see here and here for prior posts criticizing this practice) and in which tidbits of information get reported largely through the filters of FCPA Inc. participants.
This post further advances the public interest by clipping Assistant AG Caldwell’s speech into discrete topics such as: (i) how “it’s impossible for a big global company to make sure that all of its employees are following the law all of the time,” (ii) thresholds for voluntary disclosure including how the DOJ does not “need to hear” or “want to hear” about certain potential FCPA violations; (iii) how some companies have engaged in “way too broad” FCPA investigations, and (iv) what a so-called “declination” means.
These clips represent must see video for corporate managers wrestling with FCPA issues and others in the FCPA community.
Friday Roundup
Checking in on Wal-Mart, DOJ “declinations,” another installment of as we say not as we do, scrutiny alerts, and cashing in. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Wal-Mart
In its recent 2Q FY2017 earnings call presentation Wal-Mart disclosed $28 million in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and compliance related expenses ($23 million for ongoing investigations and inquiries and $5 million for global compliance program and organizational enhancements). The Q2 expenses of $28 million are higher than the Q1 expenses of $25 million.
Issues To Consider From The Key Energy Enforcement Action
This prior post summarized the recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Key Energy Services. This post continues the analysis by highlighting additional issues to consider.
Pre-Enforcement Action Professional Fees and Expenses
As highlighted in “FCPA Ripples,” settlement amounts in an actual FCPA enforcement action are often only a relatively minor component of the overall financial consequences that can result from FCPA scrutiny or enforcement in this new era.
According to Key Energy’s 10-K filed in February 2015, the company had “legal expenses related to the FCPA investigation of $41.1 million.” Key Energy’s 10-K filed in February 2016 did not mention a specific figure, but merely stated that there “lower expenses related to our FCPA investigations compared to the prior year.”
Issues To Consider From The Analogic Enforcement Action
This previous post went in-depth regarding last week’s $14.9 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Analogic Corp. and a related entity.
This post continues the analysis by highlighting various issues to consider.
Sparse Allegations
Rarely has an SEC enforcement action against an issuer contained such few allegations against, well, the issuer.
Friday Roundup
A public service announcement, Wal-Mart’s pre-enforcement action professional fees and expenses, scrutiny alert, happenings in Bermuda, a fee dispute, quotable, a useful timeline, for the reading stack, and good for a few chuckles. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
A Public Service Announcement
Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act requires the disclosure of a material connection between an advertiser and an endorser when the relationship isn’t otherwise apparent to consumers. As the FTC has made clear, the law applies to bloggers.
Certain members of the FCPA’s blogosphere (who frequently write about compliance best practices, transparency, conflicts of interest and related topics) may want to take notice and act accordingly.