FCPA

A nation long known for its hard stance against corruption, Chile has been rocked by recent political scandals – a national embarrassment and the primary reason the public’s confidence in the government has taken a nosedive. Early in 2015, President Michelle Bachelet established a council to fight corruption, and the impact is already being seen.

Latin America is experiencing a historic anti-corruption wave as governments in the region bolster their local anti-corruption laws, prosecutors courageously pursue high-profile cases, and corrupt political and business leaders and unscrupulous companies find themselves on the defensive. The trend is seen in Brazil's monumental "Operation Car Wash" involving the region s largest company, Guatemala's jailing of its former President for...

This paper is the first in a multi-part series exploring the Embraer FCPA enforcement action, considering the government’s case and the company’s response and, finally, the lessons to be learned by the compliance practitioner.

It’s easy to see issues in retrospect, but in many cases involving FCPA enforcement actions, there are plenty of red flags along the way. Take, for instance, the recent action against Key Energy in Mexico: the company overlooked a number of risk indicia; $5 million in profit disgorgements later, and those compliance missteps without a doubt don’t appear quite so...

Many companies these days are implementing automated due diligence systems, and it’s no wonder why: the government’s expectations in terms of third-party risk management are on the rise. Unresolved red flags will be a problem, as will questionable data. The best way to avoid a DOJ or SEC enforcement action: a robust due diligence program.

This new book from Tom Fox examines a record-breaking year for FCPA enforcements -- and offers "lessons learned" for today's compliance practitioner.

Latin America is experiencing a significant rise in the number of internal investigations at large corporations, an increase that is likely due in part to the DOJ’s Pilot Program, which focuses on holding individuals accountable for wrongdoing. Here are some of the key issues these companies face as they conduct internal investigations in the region.

Both pieces of legislation aim to minimize wrongdoing – one to prevent corruption abroad, the other to minimize financial fraud. Both focus on robust internal controls as part of the solution. The FCPA lays the burden of managing internal controls on the organization as a whole, but under SOX, the duties clearly fall to the executive officers.

2015 saw the resolution of a dozen FCPA enforcement actions. Of those, several had a significant connection to the Asia-Pacific region. Wendy Wysong and fellow Clifford Chance associates present the region’s 10 most important corporate prosecutions and FCPA-related actions and activities from 2015.

Each year, FCPAmericas reports on trends and priorities in FCPA enforcement, according to the DOJ and SEC. The DOJ is beefing up its FCPA Unit, and the SEC is reporting quite a few FCPA cases nearing the finish line, with just as many more pending investigation. Companies, be warned: there is as much focus as ever on global compliance. Read...

There are basically three varieties of corporate scandal. Volkswagen may have the dubious distinction of having pioneered a fourth, however. VW's emissions-testing scandal is result of its top leadership and senior engineers intentionally deceiving the public. This was no slow slide into fraud; there was at one point a specific decision made to cheat.

If you need a reason to bolster your monitoring efforts, you may find the recent FCPA enforcement action against Vicente Eduardo Garcia to be quite instructive. One noteworthy feature of this investigation was the involvement of the IRS’s Criminal Investigation unit, the lesser-discussed of the DOJ’s two investigative bodies, called in to comb through mountains of data and identify violations.