Managing FCPA Risks & Pitfalls in Today’s Regulatory Environment

Although first enacted in 1977, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has reemerged on the corporate landscape and in board rooms around the globe through a string of high profile cases brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. Once thought of as perhaps more relevant to certain industry segments (e.g., defense, natural resources, etc.) operating in geographic markets with a history of corruption, the recent surge in both civil and criminal law enforcement of the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal control provisions of the FCPA demonstrates that the risks presented in today’s marketplace are real, far-ranging, potentially catastrophic and, at first look, not necessarily obvious or readily detectable.