FCPA

WPP plc grew in to the world's largest advertising agency, in part, by acquiring thousands of subsidiaries. While it found success leveraging the expertise of these acquisitions, it was unsuccessful in establishing a culture of compliance among them.

A former Ericsson employee allegedly employed "financial sleight-of-hand involving a sham consulting contract, a false due-diligence report, and fake invoices" to conceal a bribe to Djiboutian government officials. The DOJ broke with previous practices in indicting him personally. In a surprising (but fully warranted) twist, the Justice Department returned an indictment on September 8 against a former employee of Telefonaktiebolaget...

Doing business in Nigeria presents manifold challenges. But in terms of hurdles to clear, the regulations imposed by the FCPA are easily the most significant. Abuja-based Uchechi Dibiaezue lays out the dance steps below. Tap Compliance to Stave Off FCPA Violations The lapses in governance and administration in Nigeria has created opportunities for systematic corruption and shapes the way business...

Published earlier this summer, the Engel List identifies over 50 prominent politicians and business people living in the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The move signals a renewed focus by the Justice Department in the region. On July 1, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a report listing 55 individuals suspected of corruption and antidemocratic...

Foster Wheeler has recently settled a long-standing corruption investigation regarding the use of Unaoil to pay bribes to secure business. Tom Fox details the corruption allegations and outlines takeaways for the compliance practitioner, specifically around the FCPA penalties the company incurred, the internal controls (or, rather, the lack thereof) that allowed the corruption to fester and Foster Wheeler's due diligence...

Per the DOJ and SEC, “successor liability applies to all kinds of criminal and civil liabilities, and FCPA violations are no exception.” Here, experts discuss implications for corporate liability in the parent-subsidiary and M&A contexts.

2020 was a very significant year for every compliance practitioner and compliance program. Not only was it the year with the single highest Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) fine ever -- and the largest year in total FCPA fines to date -- but there were significant enforcement actions, fines and penalties assessed against corporations, coupled with a large number of...

Hogan Lovells’ Stephanie Yonekura and Ann Kim examine the impact of mammoth relief spending, widespread remote work and other key developments on anti-corruption that enforcement will have globally in the near future. The massive sums of government funds allocated to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented urgency to distribute those funds have created opportunities for corruption at the...

As we enter 2021 with considerable uncertainty, a new report from Hogan Lovells highlights expectations for a year that will be shaped by ongoing political disruption and pandemic-related pressure. Despite these unpredictable times, Hogan Lovells attorneys have identified several unifying trends across key industries and jurisdictions globally, including: An expectation for continued cross-border enforcement activity and collaboration. The alignment of...

AAG Brian Benczkowski’s 2018 memo on selecting corporate monitors states that one should only be imposed when there’s a “clear benefit” of doing so. And yet there was none imposed on the Goldman Sachs case. Michael Volkov discusses. In 2020, the Justice Department did not insist on the appointment of any independent compliance monitors. The year before, in 2019, the DOJ...

If there was ever a question about energy traders and FCPA risk, a recent FCPA enforcement action against Vitol answers it once and for all. Tom Fox outlines the bribery schemes and corruption in Mexico and Ecuador, as well as the penalties assessed. Interestingly, this action marks the DOJ’s first coordinated FCPA resolution with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)....

Tom Fox details the bribery scheme at J&F Investimentos SA (J&F), a Brazil-based investment company, the company's FCPA violations and the following DOJ resolution and SEC settlement. Given the inventive ways J&F engaged in bribery and corruption, compliance practitioners would do well to study this particular case.   Download the full whitepaper below.