Writing about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act every weekday can be daunting. Some days there simply is not much going on.
On these days, my go to source is the FCPA Blog and upon reading false information or information lacking any historical context a post is often born.
For instance, yesterday in this post titled “Things Are Getting Weird – That’s Bad For Compliance,” the FCPA Blog asserts “even FCPA enforcement feels like it has come to a standstill, with just six corporate enforcement actions so far this year.”
A standstill compared to what is the question?
As highlighted below, the six corporate FCPA enforcement actions through August 9th is above the historical ten year median of five corporate FCPA enforcement actions through August 9th.
2022 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
5
2021 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
2
2020 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
6
2019 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
7
2018 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
9
2017 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
9
2016 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
14
2015 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
7
2014 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
4
2013 Corporate Enforcement Actions as of August 9th
4
The median of the above numbers is 5.
Thus, corporate FCPA enforcement through August 9th is actually above the historical ten year median.
To suggest that “even FCPA enforcement feels like it has come to a standstill, with just six corporate enforcement actions so far this year” – well that is just weird.
Keep in mind that historically FCPA enforcement tends to be most robust the final four months of the year as the SEC’s fiscal year ends on September 30 and the calendar year comes to a close. (See here).
