foreign government officials

Tickle The Wire » Oracle Investigation Latest in Trend in Foreign Corrupt Practice Act Crackdown by Justice Dept.

September 1, 2011 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

The Software company Oracle is being investigated by the FBI, reports the Guardian, in what some see as a trend in the increase of prosecutions under the foreign corrupt practices act (FCPA), which forbids U.S. companies from paying bribes to foreign government officials or employees of state-owned companies.

“Every week there seem to be more and more companies going through what Oracle is going through,” said Butler University professor Mike Koehler, who maintains a blog on the subject, according to The Guardian.

Koehler cited increasing globalization and the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which brought stricter corporate disclosure requirements, for the increase. He said FCPA actions in 2010 accounted for 50% of the fines levied by the Justice department’s criminal division.

via Tickle The Wire » Oracle Investigation Latest in Trend in Foreign Corrupt Practice Act Crackdown by Justice Dept..

Alcatel Finalizes Multimillion-Dollar Bribery Settlement | Law.com

June 3, 2011 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent SA finalized its settlement Wednesday with the U.S. over bribes paid to officials in Costa Rica, Honduras, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The deal concluded in Miami federal court includes a $92 million penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department. Alcatel also has already paid another $45 million to settle a related Securities and Exchange Commission case and $10 million in a corruption case brought by the Costa Rican government.

“It is one of the largest resolutions in the history of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” said Charles Duross, a top Justice Department fraud prosecutor.

Three Alcatel subsidiaries pleaded guilty to violating the anti-bribery law and will pay a combined $1.5 million in fines. The pleas were entered Wednesday by Steven R. Reynolds, general counsel of parent company Alcatel-Lucent.

Prosecutors said the bribes enabled Alcatel to win numerous multimillion-dollar telecommunications contracts in the four countries and were deeply ingrained in the company’s business around the world. The illegal arrangements continued from at least the 1990s until late 2006, often using local consultants and agents as conduits to bribe foreign government officials.

via Alcatel Finalizes Multimillion-Dollar Bribery Settlement.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: Alcatel, alcatel lucent, bribery law, com, corrupt practices act, deferred prosecution agreement, Finalizes, foreign government officials, justice, settlement

Facebook Hiring Diplomats, Focused On Improving Privacy | ITProPortal.com

May 24, 2011 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

Reports are that Facebook may soon introduce a new team of global ambassadors to represent the company in numerous countries all across the world.

This new move by Mark Zuckerberg and his men is widely being viewed by many as a desperate attempt by the company to maintain a good and healthy relationship with the authorities from different countries.

Even Debbie Frost, a Facebook spokeswoman, was found approving this theory when she reportedly told Mercury News, “This is the right investment for us to make because we want to have better relationships with regulators and policymakers across Europe and around the world.”

“It’s important that we have a presence, so people can have a direct line into Facebook. You limit the scope for misunderstandings,” she added.

According to Facebook’s job site, one of the key responsibilities of these “global ambassadors” will be to act as the “primary contact with foreign government officials and politicians.”

“Successful applicants will become part of a team that is dealing with some of the most interesting public policy challenges of our times including privacy,” Facebook revealed.

via Facebook Hiring Diplomats, Focused On Improving Privacy | ITProPortal.com.

Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: attempt, com, debbie frost, Diplomats, Facebook, foreign government officials, Frost, global ambassadors, ITProPortal, policy challenges

The Rise And Rise Of FCPA

March 25, 2011 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

Deloitte’s fourth version of its ‘Look before you leap’ survey on global risk includes much more focus on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), due in part to increased enforcement of the regulation over the past decade.

The regulation has been on the books for significantly longer – it was enacted in 1977 to make it unlawful to make payments to foreign government officials in order to obtain business – but given increased international trade and commerce over the last 30 years and, more cynically, the profitability enforcement has garnered for the government, Deloitte’s new focus makes perfect sense.

Almost two thirds (63 percent) of respondents, who included corporate executives, investment bankers, private equity executives and hedge fund managers, say the FCPA and anti-corruption legislation have led to aborted or renegotiated deals such as M&A, joint ventures and distributor relationships.

As the trend toward increased enforcement is expected to continue, insiders say it behooves US businesses to implement compliance programs, keep careful records and thoroughly train their employees if they want to remain competitive on the global stage. And even though anti-corruption legal experts agree the FCPA may hinder US competitiveness in certain respects, they also say it may point to the need for an international set of anti-corruption standards.

via The Rise And Rise Of FCPA.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: Act, compliance programs, decade, deloitte, distributor relationships, enforcement, FCPA, foreign government officials, global risk, version

Bribery Act is not perfect but brings UK into line with OECD | Claudius O Sokenu | Law | guardian.co.uk

February 4, 2011 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

When the Ministry of Justice delayed the Bribery Act for the third time this week the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) threatened to put the UK on an export blacklist along with Nigeria, Russia and Israel and others.

As drafted the act brings the UK in line with its OECD treaty obligation, but it has been criticised for being jurisdictionally overbroad and placing UK companies at a competitive disadvantage in a shrinking global economy.

The same sorts of criticisms were levied against its sister US statute, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), but that has matured into a potent enforcement tool and there is no reason the Bribery Act cannot do the same.

The UK act wider in scope than the FCPA because it covers bribery of both public officials and private citizens, uses a more expansive definition of what constitutes a bribe and applies a strict liability standard for failing to prevent the payment of bribes by “associated persons.”

On the surface the act also appears to have a broader jurisdictional reach than the FCPA. It potentially covers bribes paid anywhere in the world by anyone associated with a UK company to anyone, including foreign government officials.

This may be a distinction without a difference, however, because of the way the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice enforce the FCPA.

Importantly, the Bribery Act does not provide the same express exceptions and affirmative defences found in the FCPA; parliament preferred to keep the scope broad and leave application in the hands of the SFO.

via Bribery Act is not perfect but brings UK into line with OECD | Claudius O Sokenu | Law | guardian.co.uk.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: Act, development oecd, foreign government officials, guardian, law guardian, Ministry, oecd treaty, organisation, scope, sokenu

U.S. Sends Warning to People Named in Cable Leaks – NYTimes.com

January 7, 2011 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

The State Department is warning hundreds of human rights activists, foreign government officials and businesspeople identified in leaked diplomatic cables of potential threats to their safety and has moved a handful of them to safer locations, administration officials said Thursday.

The operation, which involves a team of 30 in Washington and embassies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, reflects the administration’s fear that the disclosure of cables obtained by the organization WikiLeaks has damaged American interests by exposing foreigners who supply valuable information to the United States.

Administration officials said they were not aware of anyone who has been attacked or imprisoned as a direct result of information in the 2,700 cables that have been made public to date by WikiLeaks, The New York Times and several other publications, many with some names removed. But they caution that many dissidents are under constant harassment from their governments, so it is difficult to be certain of the cause of actions against them.

via U.S. Sends Warning to People Named in Cable Leaks – NYTimes.com.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: american interests, cable, com, foreign government officials, human rights activists, information, leaks, united states administration, Warning, Wikileaks

Does Your FCPA Compliance Program Comply With The 2010 UK

January 4, 2011 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

U.S. corporations with overseas operations are learning that compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) may not be enough. In April 2011, the UK’s Bribery Act 2010 (the “Bribery Act”) will take effect, extending the UK’s criminal laws to foreign companies outside the UK for the first time. Meant to mimic the FCPA, the Bribery Act is actually much broader in scope and stricter in some respects. Because it reaches companies that carry on any business in the UK, regardless of whether the corrupt acts took place there, the Bribery Act has generated considerable interest and concern in board rooms across the globe. Even FCPA-compliant companies may require revisions to their compliance programs in order to establish a comprehensive compliance program which addresses both acts.

Differences Between The U.S. FCPA and UK Bribery Act

There are several key differences between the Bribery Act and the FCPA that companies should be aware of when updating their compliance programs.

1. While both acts address bribery of foreign government officials, the Bribery Act imposes criminal liability for overseas private sector corruption, although the standard of scrutiny is lower.

2. The Bribery Act covers the act of accepting or requesting bribes as well as giving or offering bribes, while the FCPA only addresses the latter.

3. Unlike the FCPA, the Bribery Act has no carve-out for facilitation payments. Compliance programs that allow facilitation payments may need to be adjusted.

4. The Bribery Act lacks specific books and records provisions, although other UK laws address these concerns.

5. Most importantly for many companies, the Bribery Act includes a new corporate offense that lowers the threshold for convicting a company for bribes paid by its business partners. However, it does expressly provide that a robust compliance program may be a defense.

via Does Your FCPA Compliance Program Comply With The 2010 UK.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: Act, Business, compliance, compliance programs, compliant companies, facilitation, fcpa compliance program, foreign government officials, s corporations, scope

Companies Sweat British Bribery Law – WSJ.com

December 29, 2010 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

Multinational companies have spent millions of dollars beefing up their compliance programs amid a U.S. crackdown on foreign bribery. Now, they are facing a new British law they fear will force them to rethink their compliance strategies and upend their business practices.

The new law, called the Bribery Act, takes effect in April. It resembles the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars companies that trade on U.S. exchanges from bribing foreign government officials to gain a business advantage.

The British law, however, is more sweeping than its American counterpart, and corporate legal advisers are uncertain how extensive the fallout might be.

“There are a lot of people saying this is the FCPA on steroids,” says Mark Mendelsohn, a Washington lawyer who oversaw FCPA prosecutions at the U.S. Justice Department from 2005 until earlier this year. Mr. Mendelsohn is now a partner at corporate-defense firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

Legal experts say it isn’t clear how vigorously the law will be enforced or what resources Britain will commit to investigating or prosecuting suspected violations. But that point has done little to reduce the trepidation among corporate counsels.

via Companies Sweat British Bribery Law – WSJ.com.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: Act, american counterpart, bribery law, British, com, compliance strategies, corrupt practices act, foreign government officials, Sweat, upend

Alcatel-Lucent Pays $137 Million To Settle FCPA Probe – Corruption Currents – WSJ

December 27, 2010 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent S.A. and three of its subsidiaries agreed to pay more than $137 million in fines and penalties to settle a foreign bribery investigation into illicit payments in Costa Rica, Honduras, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

Alcatel-Lucent Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen speaks during the company’s shareholders meeting in Paris on June 1, 2010. The company settled a foreign bribery investigation Monday with U.S. regulators by agreeing to pay $137 million in penalties and fines.

The company admitted it earned $48.1 million in profits from the improper payments, of which $45 million will be paid to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the form of a disgorgement penalty. Alcatel-Lucent said it will pay $92 million to settle Justice Department charges. It has already set aside the money, according to filings released in mid-February.

“Alcatel and its subsidiaries failed to detect or investigate numerous red flags suggesting their employees were directing sham consultants to provide gifts and payments to foreign government officials to illegally win business,” said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, in the statement. “Alcatel’s bribery scheme was the product of a lax corporate control environment at the company.”

The SEC alleged in its civil complaint that Alcatel’s subsidiaries used consultants who performed illegitimate work to funnel more than $8 million in bribes to government officials to obtain telecommunication contracts and other deals. The Justice Department said in a statement it filed a criminal information against Alcatel-Lucent charging one count of violating the internal controls provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and one count of violating the books and records provision of the FCPA.

via Alcatel-Lucent Pays $137 Million To Settle FCPA Probe – Corruption Currents – WSJ.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: Alcatel, alcatel lucent, corrupt practices act, foreign government officials, illicit payments, justice, Pays, probe, SEC, securities and exchange commission

TransPerfect Legal Solutions Hosts Panel Discussion on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) | Business Wire

December 21, 2010 By Global EDD Group Leave a Comment

TransPerfect Legal Solutions (TLS), the world’s leading provider of global legal support service, hosted a panel discussion in New York to address current trends and best practices associated with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The panel featured industry experts and was attended by approximately 100 representatives from leading Fortune 500 companies and firms nationwide.

“The DOJ’s FCPA Crackdown on the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Industry.”

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 is a United States federal law that makes it unlawful for US corporations to make payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business.¹ The FCPA also requires companies whose securities are listed in the United States to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the corporation.²

The current number of active FCPA investigations in the Department of Justice (DOJ) pipeline stands at more than 120—a single-year record since its enactment. The overall dollar volume in fines in 2010 alone has exceeded all previous years combined. Furthermore, Lanny Breuer, the U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, has made a point to root out widespread bribery in the pharmaceutical sector, and as a result, cases are picking up steam globally.³

According to TLS Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Brooke Christian, “With FCPA investigations taking such a drastic upswing in 2010, many companies are taking a fresh look at their compliance programs and wondering what more they can do to protect themselves. Our goal for this panel was to arm attendees with best-practice strategies that they could immediately implement across their organizations.”

The discussion featured the following panel of experts:

Barry Sabin – Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP

David Stanton – Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Elizabeth Zechenter – Senior Counsel, GlaxoSmithKline

Joseph Lee – Partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

Noreen M. Fierro – Vice President, AML/FCPA Compliance Officer, Prudential Financial Inc.

Sharie Brown – Partner, DLA Piper

via TransPerfect Legal Solutions Hosts Panel Discussion on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) | Business Wire.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: Act, assistant attorney general, barry sabin, Business, discussion, foreign government officials, fortune 500 companies, Legal, LLP, medical devices industry