The Justice Department has a lot to be proud about when it comes to its FCPA enforcement program. In one area in particular – promoting effective ethics and compliance strategies – DOJ’s FCPA prosecutors have played a leadership role in promoting ethics and compliance programs. When reviewing the history of compliance, most practitioners point to the impact of the Sentencing Guidelines as the most significant...
Returning to the FCPA Pilot Project requirements for timely and appropriate remediation, the Justice Department added three new elements, one of which reinforces the CCO “independence” requirement. The two other elements for an effective ethics and compliance program focus on the qualifications and compensation of compliance officers. First, with respect to the structure of the company’s compliance program, the Justice Department listed the reporting structure...
No matter how you cut it – this was a big year in FCPA enforcement. Not just because of the large enforcement actions but the scope and depth of enforcement, remediation and compliance program demands. We are witnessing a significant turning point in FCPA enforcement in which the Justice Department and the SEC are slowly but surely pushing companies to embrace a more robust ethics...
There is no question that the Justice Department has raised compliance program expectations in a number of areas. Whatever you may think about the efficacy or fairness of the FCPA Pilot Program, the Justice Department has committed itself to increasing transparency. That is a very good thing. If you go back and review FCPA settlement actions from years ago, you will not find any structured...
Perhaps the most positive and important aspect of the FCPA Pilot Program was the announcement of forward-looking and innovative remediation requirements for corporate compliance programs. As an aside, DOJ’s FCPA Pilot Program was a disappointment and failed to deliver meaningful incentives for companies to self-disclose FCPA violations to the Justice Department. The difference between 25, 50 and 75 percent from the bottom of the sentencing...
The FCPA Paparazzi have a thick head and a stubborn chin. They just do not understand the significance of Compliance 2.0 to corporate governance and they blindly adhere to simplistic, yet unexplained, solutions to complex problems – kind of sounds like a presidential candidate we all know. Without getting into politics, which I avoid here on this blog, DOJ’s recent FCPA guidance on voluntary, disclosure,...
The Justice Department finally released its long-awaited new FCPA enforcement plan. It took DOJ a little while to come up with this and in the end, like most initiatives, there is a mixed bag for global companies, FCPA practitioners, DOJ prosecutors and law enforcement. Today’s posting analyzes the initiative on prosecution issues, and tomorrow’s post will review the compliance component of the new guidance. DOJ’s...
You have just been hired as the new Chief Compliance Officer of a global company operating in over 80 countries, including numerous high-risk corruption countries. You have no staff and have been given a budget to hire 5 full-time professionals, support staff, and technology, if reasonably priced. When you look into the existing compliance program, you realize that everything is a mess. There are no...
