By Alec Diamond

France is ranked a lowly 23^rd in Transparency International’s Public Corruption Perception Index. In recent years, French companies like Alstom and Total have been forced to pay millions of dollars to U.S. authorities over bribery allegations. The French Finance Minister, Michel Sapin, finding the nation’s foreign corruption record insulting, has announced a new anti-corruption bill. Provisions will include increased protections for whistleblowers (an important tool used by the U.S. DOJ to identify potential FCPA violations), the creation of an anti-corruption agency, and a ban on large gifts to government officials. Time will tell if this new bill generates comparable revenue through fines to the FCPA in the United States. Interestingly, the government dropped plans to provide for guilty pleas in exchange for financial settlements under the new laws (most cases that have been brought by U.S. authorities end in settlement rather than trial).

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May 04, 2016

By Alec Diamond

Novartis AG, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, recently settled an SEC investigation for $25 million. Novartis was under investigation for violations of the books and records and internal accounting provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Two of the company’s subsidiaries doing business in China used third party vendors like Chinese travel agencies to set up “educational events” for local healthcare providers in order to increase generic pharmaceuticals sales. However, there was little-to-no evidence that many of the educational conferences ever occurred, while travel fare for officials’ spouses and recreational trips (such as trips to Niagara Falls) were expensed. This SEC investigation is the twenty-second action brought against a pharmaceutical company doing business abroad. Companies with Chinese subsidiaries be warned: rigorous internal accounting procedures may be necessary to avoid costly settlements.

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May 03, 2016

By Matthew Richardson

The much discussed “Yates Memo” seems to signal that DOJ will now follow the long-anticipated realignment of prosecutions to target individual bad actors over more numerous or more high-profile institutions. This goes to an essentially unanswerable question interested readers might ask themselves: if you want to prevent corporate wrongdoing, what’s more effective, putting fear into actual executives that they might be prosecuted, or hitting the institution with a big enough financial penalty for it to really sting? Put another way, what gets a bigger reaction, taking heads or taking dollars? Reasonable people will disagree, but going forward, perhaps DOJ’s experiment will provide interested parties with some research to consider.

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November 27, 2015

By Matthew Richardson

DOJ has engaged a “compliance counsel” to provide insight and guidance to prosecutors when assessing the compliance programs of companies that are, or have been, under investigation. Keen observers are aware that DOJ has been prosecuting actors for years without such guidance. Those already opinionated on the subject will find all the confirmation they could want for the allegation that DOJ never really understood compliance programs to begin with, though advocates will surely maintain that DOJ’s existing competence on the subject will only become that much greater.

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November 25, 2015

By Matthew Richardson

The United States and developed countries have long struggled to fashion robust and comprehensive international anti-corruption programs, though the U.S. FCPA was a strong early attempt. However, the scale of corruption in China is on another scale entirely. Even Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s international department, admits that the lack of a sanctions regime is a huge challenge. With so many officials involved and so many assets now overseas, whether the Party can even hope to create an independent investigative body is an open question.

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September 16, 2015

By Alexander Diamond

The CEO of China’s fourth largest steel producer is being investigated for violations of Chinese anti-corruption law. This pursuit of yet another industrial leader follows a massive crackdown on corruption by the CCDI (the CPC’s anti-corruption authorities) that has led to the arrest of some of China’s most powerful politicians, military officers, and industrialists. Although Chinese authorities have only pursued charges against one foreign citizen thus far, this domestic enforcement trend has significant implications for both Chinese and international businesses who can no longer rely on the long-accepted informal guanxi system of gift/favor giving to political allies. Time will tell if the increasingly powerful CCDI begins to consistently pursue charges against increasingly integrated U.S. businesses that are already subject to FCPA enforcement actions.

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September 16, 2015

By Alexander Diamond

In a proceeding related to the Department of Justice’s prosecution of Alstom, a French-based energy company that paid 722 million dollars worth of fines after accusations of corrupt activity worldwide, the DOJ pursued charges against Lawrence Hoskins, a British citizen working with the company in France. Although Hoskins had never lived in the United States and was not accused of furthering any corrupt scheme within United States territory, the DOJ argued that personal jurisdiction existed under accomplice liability theory, as explained in the DOJ’s FCPA guidance policy since 2012. However, the U.S. District Court of Connecticut read the FCPA as prohibiting charges against foreign nationals as Congress chose not to include them within the definition of “domestic concerns” subject to liability (for individuals, the definition entails only citizens, nationals and residents). Although higher courts have not yet reached this issue, the scant case law defining the scope of the FCPA means this ruling could affect DOJ prosecution of foreign citizens for years to come.

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September 15, 2015

By Matthew Richardson

United States FCPA prosecutions for extraterritorial misconduct are most attention grabbing when large corporations engage in corrupt activities. Few would first think of a Thai film festival as the cutting edge of anti-corruption efforts. Nevertheless, Thai tourism boss Juthamas Siriwan may now escape extradition to the United States, despite alleged receipt of bribes from a Hollywood producer. Her recent indictment in Thailand will likely preclude extradition due to existing treaty obligations between the two countries. This is another reminder that the reach of the FCPA in terms of either specific countries or conduct can remain surprising, and inconsistent. One could even imagine well-connected officials seeking domestic indictment to avoid potential extradition. Maybe there’s a Hollywood movie in it somewhere?

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September 10, 2015

By Sam Willie

The Wall Street Journal reports on an announcement that the FBI will triple the number of agents it devotes to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Enforcement from 10 to 30 agents. Joseph Campbell, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Division justifies this move by arguing that “the growing global economy and the growing nature of international commerce with globalization of more companies and economies, … creat[es] more opportunities for the potential of FCPA and corruption.” The Bureau’s colleagues at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice will likely welcome this news as they often utilize the FBI to conduct investigations of potential FCPA violations. FBI Agents will also be expected to play a role in assisting other nations claw back funds paid to corrupt officials.

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March 26, 2015

By Matt Klinger

Enforcement of anti-corruption laws remains a top priority in the U.S. and abroad. Learn how to avoid violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) at the AmericanBar Association's Sixth Annual National Institute on the FCPA from September 18 to 20.

The panelists will include senior officials from FCPA enforcement units at both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, as well as a senior counsel at the World Bank.

The keynote speaker at the event is slated to be Keir Starmer, QC, Director of Public Prosecutions for the U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service.

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August 31, 2013