On July 3, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released the second edition of the Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (2020 Guide), the first update to...more
Recent Renewable Energy Developments in Latin America -
The renewable energy market in Latin America is booming, and the region’s natural resources make it one of the most attractive areas in the world for investment....more
7/7/2020
/ Brazil ,
Chile ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Green Energy ,
Hydropower ,
Latin America ,
Paris Agreement ,
Renewable Energy ,
Wind Power
On June 1, 2020, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Brian A. Benczkowski, announced changes to the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“2020 Guidance”), the...more
Two recent rulings in separate foreign bribery cases highlight the continued impact of individual prosecutions on the interpretation of various provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In United States v....more
3/4/2020
/ Agency Relationship ,
Bribery ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Email ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Indictments ,
Mail Fraud ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subsidiaries ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
On January 31, 2020, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) agreed to resolve allegations that Airbus SE (“Airbus”), a France-based aerospace company, used third-party business partners to bribe government officials and airline...more
2/5/2020
/ Airbus ,
Bribery ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Criminal Fines ,
Corporate Fines ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Forfeiture ,
France ,
Indictments ,
ITAR ,
Remediation ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Settlement ,
UK ,
US Department of State ,
Voluntary Disclosure
Enforcement activity reached new heights in 2019. The year saw the two largest corporate resolutions in the history of the FCPA, corporate penalties paid to US enforcement agencies topped last year’s record levels, and...more
1/30/2020
/ Adoption ,
Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Arbitration ,
CFTC ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Investigations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Litigation ,
Personal Liability ,
Popular ,
Resource Extraction ,
Restitution ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
On December 6, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to resolve allegations that multinational telecommunications company Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson or...more
12/31/2019
/ Accounting Controls ,
Bribery ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Jurisdiction ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Popular ,
Remediation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On August 29, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission” or “SEC”) agreed to resolve an enforcement action against Juniper Networks, Inc. (“Juniper” or the “Company”), a Silicon Valley-based cybersecurity and...more
9/4/2019
/ Bribery ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
China ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subsidiaries
On April 30, 2019, the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Brian A. Benczkowski, announced an update to the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) 2017 guidance document entitled Evaluation of Corporate Compliance...more
5/10/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Governance ,
Declination ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Investigations ,
Mergers ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Risk Assessment ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Training
Despite predictions of a slow-down in enforcement under the Trump administration—and indications that enforcement in some areas has decreased in the past year1—2018 was yet again an active year for FCPA enforcement. The year...more
1/18/2019
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Investigations ,
Corruption ,
Credit Suisse ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Panasonic ,
Petrobras ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblowers ,
Yates Memorandum
In a November 29, 2018 speech, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a softening of the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) policy on giving credit for cooperation in corporate prosecutions.
As memorialized in the...more
On October 12, 2018 in remarks made at the NYU School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement’s Conference on Achieving Effective Compliance, Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice...more
On August 24, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a significant ruling regarding the reach of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) over foreign companies and individuals in United...more
8/30/2018
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Alstom ,
Appeals ,
Bribery ,
Conspiracies ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Popular
Despite generally favorable macroeconomic conditions, high levels of cash among strategic acquirers and low interest rates, the number of reported M&A transactions and deal value worldwide both declined for the second...more
On July 2, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission or SEC) settled an enforcement action against Beam Suntory Inc. (Beam), a worldwide beverage maker and distributor, over alleged violations of the Foreign...more
On May 9, 2018, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein introduced a new Department of Justice (DOJ) Policy on Coordination of Corporate Resolution Penalties (the Policy) while speaking at the New York City Bar White Collar...more
On December 20, 2017, President Trump issued a new Executive Order (EO) targeting corruption and human rights abuses around the world.
The EO implements last year's Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (the...more
On November 29, 2017, “[d]ue to the unique issues presented in FCPA matters,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a new FCPA corporate enforcement policy published in a revision to the United States Attorneys'...more
On April 5, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice released a nine-page memorandum launching a one-year pilot program to reward companies that voluntarily self-report violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Now...more
The past year was consequential for FCPA enforcement in numerous respects, including blockbuster penalties, new policy initiatives, and the SEC’s first DPA with an individual for FCPA violations. In April 2016, the DOJ’s...more
2/8/2017
/ Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On April 5, 2016, the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Criminal Division issued an enforcement plan and guidance (the Guidance) laying out three steps it is taking to intensify Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...more
4/11/2016
/ Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Individual Accountability ,
Remediation ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
Busy Q1 Yields Several Significant FCPA Resolutions -
Overview -
On February 19, during the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) annual “SEC Speaks” conference, Kara Brockmeyer, Chief of the SEC’s FCPA...more
3/25/2016
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Books & Records ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Internal Controls ,
Misrepresentation ,
Qualcomm ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transparency
I. Introduction: Enforcement Trends and Priorities -
Among other significant developments, 2015 saw the U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ” or the “Department”) document a policy priority of holding individuals...more
2/3/2016
/ Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
BHP Billiton ,
Blocking Statutes ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
FLIR System ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Hitachi ,
Olympics ,
Strict Liability ,
Yates Memorandum
On August 13, 2015, a US district judge dismissed a charge seeking to hold a defendant criminally liable for conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) if he is not a principal or agent of a US domestic...more
8/28/2015
/ Alstom ,
Bribery ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Official ,
Indonesia ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motions in Limine ,
UK