The Rise of the Prosecutorial Efforts in Foreign Corruption: Lessons Learned from Recent FCPA Cases
17 Pages Posted: 29 Mar 2010
Date Written: March 24, 2010
Abstract
This paper surveys the five notable cases that illustrate the aggressiveness of the SEC and the DOJ in pursuing FCPA violators, but these cases are important because they provide indicators of possible directions that FCPA enforcements can take. DPC tells us of the unique FCPA risks of doing business in China. CCI tells us that although not penalized under the FCPA, the bribery of private parties can also be a criminal act under state law and can be part and parcel of FCPA enforcement in certain instances. Siemens highlights the extent that the SEC will take if the company neglects to take note of its obligations under the FCPA. Bourke tells us that one should be careful of the possibility of being dragged into an FCPA enforcement arising from acts that one did directly do. And FTI tells us that shareholders also suffer damages in FCPA incidents, often from the plunge of stock prices, and have been making forays into using FCPA-related internal control issues to support securities class action lawsuits. Taking from the lessons of these individual cases, the paper concludes with prescriptions on how to upgrade a company’s FCPA compliance program so that directors and officers can help their companies, and themselves, avoid FCPA violation and liability.
Keywords: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Securities Law, Corporate Governance
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