While respectful of the obvious human dimension of this case, the Africa Sting case could not have come at a better time for FCPA practitioners, which tend to be employed by large law firms – although not exclusively.
In yet another decision aimed at encouraging companies to focus on prevention and full disclosure in the face of investigations, the U.S. Sentencing Commission recently put forth a proposal that “would reduce fines and penalties even if company officers were involved in the criminal activity…if they meet standards for tackling white-collar crime at their companies.”
Today, the SEC issued a press release outlining “interpretive guidance” for potential climate change legislation. While many applauded the move, many others were left scratching their heads and wondering exactly what purpose the SEC’s release had served.
As you most likely recall, CCI’s FCPA Columnist Mike Koehler wrote recently about the “historic” FCPA investigation that indicted 22 people for having the intent to bribe a foreign official. Since then, there have been numerous updates that Mike has posted over at his blog FCPA Professor. Here are links to those updates with excerpts.
According to the SCCE survey on employees and social networking, via HR Morning, 25% of employees have been disciplined for activities on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Whether a fictitious “foreign official” (the first scenario) or a real, but non-participating “foreign official” (the second scenario) the big question is: can offering to bribe or paying a bribe to such a “foreign official” constitute a substantive FCPA violation?
Today, the DOJ announced the indictment of 22 “executives and employees of companies in the military and law enforcement products industry” for scheming to bribe foreign officials in the “largest single investigation and prosecution against individuals in the history of DOJ’s enforcement of the FCPA.”
The PBSJ Corporation was unable to file its Annual Report due to an FCPA internal investigation “in connection with certain projects undertaken by PBS&J International, Inc., one of the Company’s subsidiaries, in certain foreign countries.”
News is breaking today that the United States government has slapped a suit against Johnson & Johnson and two of its subsidiaries for allegedly paying kickbacks to nursing homes in an effort to boost sale for a new antipsychotic drug.
According to WeFollow.com, the CCI Twitter account (cci_compliance) is ranked #2 for the terms “compliance” and “governance” in terms of overall influence. Additionally, CCI’s Twitter account is ranked #4 for the term “ethics”.
