As has been highlighted more than once on this website, the FCPA Blog is a frequent source of FCPA misinformation and rubbish.
In this post, the FCPA Blog makes four false statements in one post.
The FCPA Blog asserts:
“From 2016 through 2020, 83 companies paid about $16.8 billion to resolve FCPA enforcement actions.”
This is false.
From 2016 through 2020, 83 companies paid approximately $9.9 billion to resolve FCPA enforcement actions. (See here).
In other words, the FCPA Blog is off by $6.9 billion!
The FCPA Blog asserts:
“Since the start of 2021, there have been only six FCPA enforcement actions overall, four in 2021 and two so far in 2022 – with a total dollar value of around $371 million.”
This is false.
Since the start of 2021, there have been seven FCPA enforcement actions overall, four in 2021 and three so far in 2022 (see here, here, and here) – with a total dollar value of around $353 million.
The FCPA Blog asserts:
“The average FCPA settlement from 2016 through 2020 was about $202 million, but since the start of 2021, the average has fallen to about $62 million per settlement.
This is false.
The average FCPA settlement from 2016 through 2020 was about $120 million, but since the start of 2021, the average has fallen to about $50 million.
The FCPA Blog asserts that the DOJ has a “new priority of holding individuals accountable for corporate white-collar crimes.”
This is false.
The priority is not new. Holding individuals accountable for corporate white-collar crimes has been a stated DOJ policy for at least that past 10 years.
As to the general issue discussed in the FCPA Blog post (the purported decline in corporate FCPA enforcement), not mentioned is that 2021 was an outlier in terms of corporate FCPA enforcement – no doubt due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a new administration.
Corporate FCPA enforcement in 2022 is likely to end up as being generally consistent with historical norms over the past 10-15 years. In other words, likely 10-12 corporate enforcement actions.
