On July 2, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in United States v. Lopez that foreign commercial bribery schemes fall within the ambit of the honest services wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. §...more
7/11/2025
/ Appeals ,
Bribery ,
Conspiracies ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
SCOTUS ,
Soccer ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud ,
World Cup
On June 10, 2025, the Deputy Attorney General issued the highly anticipated Guidelines for Investigations and Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) (“Guidelines”), complying with the directive in President...more
6/11/2025
/ Bribery ,
Cartels ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Investigations ,
New Guidance ,
Terrorist Organizations ,
Trump Administration
On May 12, 2025, Matthew Galeotti, the Head of the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice ("DOJ") issued a new white collar enforcement plan (“Enforcement Plan”) titled “Focus, Fairness, and Efficiency in the Fight...more
5/14/2025
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Investigations ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
Since the beginning of his second term, President Donald Trump has implemented policy changes in accordance with top administration priorities that are likely to significantly alter the enforcement landscape for non-U.S....more
Anti-bribery and corruption agencies in the UK, France and Switzerland today announced a shared commitment to tackling international bribery and corruption, by way of a new taskforce intended to strengthen collaboration....more
3/21/2025
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
France ,
International Trade ,
Penalties ,
Switzerland ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
Soon after being sworn in, President Trump issued Executive Orders identifying top administration priorities: combating illegal immigration, drug cartels, and unlawful DEI practices. Taking a similar tack, on her first day in...more
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement activity increased overall in 2024, with a notable uptick in Department of Justice (DOJ) enforcement actions compared to 2023, despite a decrease in public Securities and...more
1/31/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration ,
White Collar Crimes
On March 7, 2024, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced Department of Justice (DOJ) initiatives to incentivize whistleblowers with payouts from civil or criminal forfeitures and to integrate artificial intelligence...more
3/12/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
Publicly announced Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement activity in 2023 did not return to the levels seen a few years ago, as indicated by both the total number of cases against corporate and individual...more
1/31/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Clawbacks ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Executive Compensation ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
FEPA ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Latin America ,
Mergers ,
Pilot Programs ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On December 14, 2023, the U.S. Congress (Congress) passed the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), as a part of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. The FEPA, which received bipartisan support, makes...more
On March 3, 2023, as part of the rollout of several updates to its guidance on corporate compliance programs, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a new policy aimed at incentivizing compliance-driven compensation and...more
3/6/2023
/ Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
New Guidance ,
Risk Assessment ,
White Collar Crimes
While Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement activity has not come close to returning to the heights seen a few years ago, 2022 reflected significant increases from the prior year in both the number of cases against...more
2/10/2023
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Criminal Fines ,
Corruption ,
Cross-Border ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
On August 12, 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued another decision in a long-running criminal action that holds significant implications for the reach of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)...more
8/31/2022
/ Agents ,
Alstom ,
Anti-Bribery ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subsidiaries
In 2021, the number of publicly resolved Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases was relatively low compared with previous years, but there were numerous interesting developments, and enforcement activity going forward...more
1/28/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Biden Administration ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corruption ,
Cross-Border ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Investigations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
As was true in many areas of the law, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement in 2020 - and anti-corruption enforcement more generally - was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but perhaps not as much as was initially...more
2/1/2021
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Investigations ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Latin America has been especially hard hit in recent months by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting travel restrictions, physical safety precautions and public health concerns have created uncertainty for many...more
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
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
This is the sixth issue of WilmerHale’s 10-in-10 Hot Topics in Energy Series. Over the course of 10 weeks, our attorneys will share insights on current and emerging issues affecting the US energy sector....more
3/8/2019
/ Brazil ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ecuador ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Mexico ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
PEMEX ,
Petrobras ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)