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 Derek Hunter

Several large banks agreed to a $4.3 billion joint civil settlement with U.S., U.K. and Swiss regulators on Wednesday over currency exchange manipulation by its traders. Similar to the historic LIBOR settlements over the last few years, the six banks settled charges that they took steps designed to boost their profits by manipulating one of the world’s largest and most interconnected markets, sometimes at the expense of their clients. In secret chat rooms, traders from multiple banks would disclose confidential information to allow them to manipulate foreign currency prices and make a profit for themselves.

BloombergView discusses what these traders did wrong, how it compares to the LIBOR manipulation, and why this will not be the last we hear about these foreign currency manipulators. 

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December 02, 2014