OECD Revises Its “Recommendations” And Green Lights The Facade Of Enforcement
Recently, the OECD released a laundry list of updated recommendations for “further combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions.”
As further proof that the OECD prioritizes quantity of enforcement over quality of enforcement (see here), the OECD is now recommending that member countries to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention “consider using a variety of forms of resolutions when resolving criminal, administrative, and civil cases with both legal and natural persons, including non-trial resolutions.”
By doing so, the OECD is green lighting the “facade” of enforcement (see here and here for prior articles on the subject).
FCPA Flash Podcast – A Conversation With Nicola Bonucci Regarding The OECD Convention
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 Nicola Bonucci. Currently a partner in the Paris office of Paul Hastings LLP, Bonucci previously served as the Director for Legal Affairs for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The in-depth podcast focuses on the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (“OECD Convention“).
During the podcast, Bonucci responds to questions regarding the following issues:
Worth A Listen
A few podcast episodes recommendations to pass along.
This episode of Kickback features Nicola Bonucci. Currently a partner in the Paris office of Paul Hastings, Bonucci previously served as the Director for Legal Affairs for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In the podcast, Bonucci discusses among other topics: the origins of the OECD Convention; potential weaknesses in the OECD Convention; and whether signatories to the OECD Convention should expand.
FCPA Enforcement Actions Against Foreign Companies From OECD Convention Peer Countries
As highlighted in this post, like prior years (see here, here, here and here) much of the largeness of 2020 FCPA enforcement resulted from corporate enforcement actions against foreign companies.
Specifically, of the 12 corporate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions in 2020, 5 (42%) were against foreign companies (based in many instances on mere listing of securities on U.S. markets or in a few instances on sparse allegations of a U.S. nexus in furtherance of a bribery scheme). Of the net approximate $2.78 billion in FCPA settlement amounts from 2020 corporate enforcement actions, approximately $910.5 million (33%) was from enforcement actions against foreign companies. (Note: the record setting $1.26 billion FCPA enforcement action against U.S. company Goldman Sachs significantly reduced this number from prior years).
OECD Report Nicely Captures Why Comparing FCPA Enforcement To Other Nation’s Enforcement Of “FCPA-Like Laws” Is Absurd
Prior posts here and here have highlighted several reasons why it is absurd to compare U.S. enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to other nation’s enforcement of their FCPA-like laws.
The OECD’s recent Phase 4 review report of the U.S. (see here for the prior post) nicely captures several (but not all) of these reasons.
For instance, at a most basic level, exposure to bribery risk is a function of real-world point of contacts with “foreign officials” – including in high-risk countries and industries.
In this regard, the OECD report notes under the heading “The United States’ Exposure to Foreign Bribery Risks”