Trends in FCPA Enforcement

April 2015

In recent years, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (the "FCPA") enforcement has been a top priority for U.S. enforcement agencies. There have been a number of recent cases which have confirmed the desire for strong enforcement against both companies and individuals who violate the FCPA and large penalties have been pursued by both the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Recent trends have shown that both the SEC and the DOJ are encouraging self-disclosure and cooperation, giving meaningful credit to corporations who cooperate with regard to FCPA infractions. However, it is not just companies which are the current target for FCPA prosecution and enforcement. The DOJ is also focusing on corporate executives (both U.S. and foreign residents alike), aggressively prosecuting executives who conspire to violate the FCPA.

Other trends show that the FCPA hot spots continue to be China, Russia and Africa, but there has also been recent enforcement against activity in the Middle East and Southeast Asia for bribery schemes. FCPA enforcement continues to focus on large, multinational companies, but will increasingly focus on small and medium-size enterprises (“SMEs”) entering the international markets for the first time, to ensure that such SMEs have adequately addressed their compliance risks and have adequate internal controls in place to address such risks. There is also a trend towards increasing international cooperation, with the FCPA Unit at the SEC working closely with foreign regulators and foreign prosecutors on FCPA enforcement matters.

For more information, please see the attached article which discusses recent FCPA enforcement cases and trends in more detail. The article can be downloaded here.

If you have any further questions regarding this please feel free to contact our team.