“This is Chris Economaki in the pits.”

That was the signature line of race car announcer Chris Economaki, who died last week at the age of 91. For a generation of us who grew up watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Chris Economaki was the voice of the Indy 500, the Dayton 500, the Summer and Winter Nationals of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and a host of other auto races. In addition to having one of the most unique names this Southerner had ever heard of, Economaki had a staccato vocal delivery that, as noted in his obituary in the New York Times (NYT) by writer Douglas Martin, “reminded some of a rumbling racing engine.”

The Bribery Schemes

I thought about Chris Economaki and the detail he brought as a track-side commentator to a generation of Wide World of Sports’ aficionados when considering the various documents released last week in connection with the Tyco International Ltd (Tyco) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action. For the most comprehensive summary of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) criminal enforcement action and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) civil action, I recommend either of the FCPA Professor’s excellent posts on Tyco. In addition to the points raised by the Professor I believe that there are significant lessons learned for the FCPA compliance practitioner. With a tip of our collective caps to the baseball pennant races which are down to the final few days, I present the Tyco Bribery Box Score.