Back in December 2010, we noticed a tweet by Jonathan Marks where he mentioned that he had developed a 13-step action plan for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance programs. We were certainly intrigued by this information but, alas, there was no link to the document or information, so we took the direct approach and DM’d Jonathan to ask if he would be willing to share with us the 13-step action plan, which he was willing to do. So today’s blog will begin with a reminder of the incredible tools that are available to the FCPA compliance practitioner through today’s internet.
I met Jonathan (virtually) through LinkedIn and his hosting of the LinkedIn group ‘Fraud Pentagon.’ Through his profile I was able to discover Jonathan’s interesting profession journey, he is the Partner In-Charge of the Fraud, Ethics and Anti-Corruption practice at Crowe Horwath and has worked with the US Attorney’s office, the FBI, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and US Customs officials during his career. Jonathan has also served as the Chief Audit Executive at several public companies and is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner and is certified in financial forensics.
I spoke to Jonathan to find out how he developed this plan and he told us that from his meetings with clients on the issue of compliance over the years, he wanted to develop a non-legalistic approach that he could easily convey to clients. So he studied the available literature, talked to others in the compliance arena and sought counsel from US government agencies tasked with enforcing the FCPA to come up with a framework by which a company could review its FCPA compliance program, assess where the program is in terms of best practices, and then use the same action plan as a guide for implementing some or all of the best practices.
Please see full publication below for more information.
