The Bribery Act: To Disclose or Not To Disclose?
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 19 with Barry Vitou on Bribery Act Updates
Just when we thought 2016 was over and we could all breathe a sigh of relief, DOJ and the SEC have continued to run with a string of new enforcement actions. To all of those prognosticators, paparazzi, commentators, chicken...more
Whom to suspend during any Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation is always a delicate question to answer. Unfortunately there is never an easy answer. As the Volkswagen (VW) emission-testing scandal continues to...more
The legal and compliance landscape is changing quickly—it’s up to organisations that do business in the U.K. to strengthen their compliance programmes to meet these new challenges. In this whitepaper, Andrew Foose, vice...more
The key to being a successful (FCPA) prognosticator is never to keep score. If you do, you are likely to be disappointed. Instead, I follow the strategy of calculated distraction – for example, I predicted last year...more
In typical Chinese fashion, the prosecution of GSK and several GSK executives ended after a one-day “trial.” GSK paid a $489 million fine; and four criminal sentences were handed out with suspension of jail time and orders of...more
Whatever you might think of where his career went, Elton John had some great early stuff. I still rank Tumbleweed Connection right up there as one of my favorite albums of all-time. And while it was packed with some great...more
The Bribery Act 2010 has now been in force for three years. Despite the announcements and commentary that it heralded a new and aggressive face toward corporate corruption, there have as yet been no corporate prosecutions...more
The U.K.’s Serious Frauds Office prevailed in its first overseas corruption trial, securing a jury verdict in its favor and against two former Innospec executives. The case stems from a referral by the DOJ following FCPA...more
Beginning in February 2014, the agreements may be used as a sentencing tool for corporate bribery, fraud, and other economic crimes. Under the UK Crime and Courts Act 2013, which received royal assent in April,...more
FDIC Guidance on Deposit Advance Products - On November 21, the FDIC issued final supervisory guidance to FDIC-supervised financial institutions with respect to the risks imposed by certain deposit advance products. ...more
On November 20, 2013, during a panel presentation at the 30th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), current and former prosecutors from the United States and the United Kingdom discussed the...more
One of the most dreaded questions in any Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation is: Where Else? By this I mean that if you have a systemic failure of internal controls in one geographic area it may well be that...more
In this Episode 19, I visit with Barry Vitou, one-half of thebriberyact.com duo. Barry advises on recent remarks at the PinsentMasons Regulatory Conference by SFO Director David Green on enforcement of the UK Bribery Act and...more
On this day 75 years ago Orson Welles caused a nationwide panic with his broadcast of “War of the Worlds” – a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth. The show began on Sunday, October 30, at 8 pm....more
Donna Boehme and Jim McGrath continually rail against the notion that a ‘rogue employee’ causes the majority of bribery and corruption charges under such laws as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and UK Bribery Act. ...more
The Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) brought fraud related charges against three directors and one employee of Sustainable AgroEnergy plc (“SAE”), a subsidiary of Sustainable Growth Group (“SSG”) on 14 August 2013, as part of a...more
On August 14, 2013, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charged three British nationals with offenses under the UK Bribery Act 2010. This is the first Bribery Act prosecution brought by the SFO. While it is impossible to discern a...more
Last Thursday, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office released a draft Deferred Prosecution Agreement Code of Practices (Code) for comment. The draft Code represents a significant milestone for ethics and compliance in general, and...more
The UK Government has announced a review of the Bribery Act 2010 and its intent to reduce the cost of compliance for small and medium-sized businesses. The main focus will apparently be on facilitation payments. These are...more
Doing something ‘by the book’ means more than following a process. It means following that process during high stress times. One of the things that I think gets missed when discussing compliance programs is the need for rigor...more
This past weekend I saw the remaining members of The Who perform in their Quadrophenia Tour. While I had seen Roger Daltry perform the rock opera Tommy, I had never seen Pete Townsend in concert. To say I was blown away would...more
As almost everyone knows, Lance Armstrong spoke for the first time about his performance enhancing drug (PED) use recently on Oprah. On the first night he admitted for the first time that he used PEDs during his seven wins at...more
One of the great plays and movies that I enjoy is ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’. As you might expect with anything that David Mamet pens the dialogue is absolutely spot on, fast paced and non-stop. The action generally revolves...more
In December 2012 the BBC online service reported that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited (Rolls-Royce) was in talks with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) regarding potential allegations of bribery and corruption in Indonesia and...more
The Financial Services Authority is shortly to embark on a thematic review of asset managers. Its focus will be on the risks of bribery and corruption, sanctions and money laundering. Twenty two firms have already been...more