Facts First – “How The USA Turned The Fight Against Corruption Into A Goldmine”
Recently Dick Roche (a former Irish Minister for European Affairs) published this article titled “How the USA turned the fight against corruption into a goldmine.”
It is certainly not the first article to be written with such a provocative headline as the following articles generally touched upon the same theme: “Cashing in on Corruption” (Washington Post); “The Bribery Racket” (Forbes); “FCPA Inc. and the Business of Bribery” (Wall Street Journal); and “The Anti-Bribery Business” (Economist)
The article begins:
Court Dismisses FCPA Charges Based On Lack Of Jurisdiction, Lack Of Due Process, Vagueness, And Statute Of Limitation Issues
As highlighted in this prior post in September 2019 the DOJ announced the unsealing of a criminal indictment against (among others) Paulo Casqueiro-Murta in connection with an alleged bribery scheme involving Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, PDVSA.
According to the DOJ, Murta (a citizen of Portugal and Switzerland) provided financial services to various co-defendants (including former employees of PDVSA) in connection with various bribery schemes and he was charged with directly violating or assisting others in violating the FCPA and money laundering laws.
Recently, Judge Kenneth Hoyt (S.D. Tex) granted Murta’s motion to dismiss the charges based on lack of jurisdiction, lack of due process, vagueness, and statute of limitation issues.
Issues To Consider From The Tenaris Enforcement Action
This post highlighted the recent $78.1 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Tenaris (the second time the company has resolved an FCPA enforcement action in the last approximate decade).
This post highlights additional issues to consider from the enforcement action.
Timeline
Tenaris “voluntarily notified” the SEC and DOJ of the matters involved in the enforcement action in October 2016.
Issues To Consider From The Glencore Enforcement Action
This previous post highlighted the recent net $443 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Glencore.
This post highlighted the CFTC’s related enforcement action against the company.
This post discussed how the executive officer certification in the FCPA enforcement action sets up Glencore personnel to fail.
This post continues the analysis by highlighting additional issues to consider from the Glencore FCPA enforcement action.
Timeline
Issues To Consider From The KT Corp. Enforcement Action
This recent post highlighted the $6.3 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against KT Corp. – a South Korea based telecommunications company with American Depositary Shares registered with the SEC and traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
This post highlights additional issues to consider.
Proper?
In the FCPA’s modern era, much of the largeness of enforcement activity is from enforcement actions against foreign companies from peer OECD Convention countries.
The first corporate FCPA enforcement action of 2022 is another example.