Where To Look

Be sure to check out Shearman & Sterling’s searchable data base here. It’s utterly amazing and free to use. Searches return cases, pleadings, dollar amounts, countries involved, dispositions, and related actions. It’s like their original FCPA Digest, but in liquid form. A wonderful new public resource.

Philip Urofsky, who heads the project, told us “the new ‘Digest 2.0’ should be a useful tool for companies in evaluating risk by region, industry, and enforcement trends.” He said his group will keep the data base current and as comprehensive as possible with original pleadings.

On top of that, the latest version of the firm’s “Trends and Patterns in the Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” is now available, along with the March 10, 2010 .pdf edition of the FCPA Digest. Both are here.

Authors Urofsky and Dan Newcomb always bring a fresh perspective. In the latest Trends, they wonder how the DOJ’s FCPA trial teams will cope with the recent indictment of so many individuals:

Senior DOJ and SEC officials of the Obama Administration have repeatedly promised a robust program of enforcement, including proactive initiatives focusing on specific business sectors, particularly the pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, the DOJ’s focus on individuals will undoubtedly have an impact on enforcement in the coming year. As of March 1, the DOJ has 38 individuals awaiting trial; some, such as the six Control Components defendants charged with a single conspiracy, will potentially be tried together, while others, such as the 22 defendants in the law enforcement supply cases, are likely to stand trial separately. Trials drain resources, and although we expect that the DOJ’s Fraud Section will call upon other parts of the Department for assistance, it is likely to be stretched thin in the near future.

And somehow anticipating the DOJ’s comments about Daimler, they ruminate on the questionable role played by corporate law departments, as described in some pre-Daimler enforcement actions:

The SEC similarly expressed concerns about the fairly passive role of AGCO’s legal department. For example, the SEC noted that, in addition to allowing the Iraqi contracts to be executed without legal review, the legal department was aware that the company was doing business in Iraq, a country then subject to U.S. economic sanctions, yet it “failed to ensure that the sanctions or the U.N. rules and regulations were followed.” Further, the company did not conduct any due diligence on the agent nor did it provide or require the agent to take FCPA training nor did its agreement with the agent accurately describe his services and payment terms or include FCPA language.

We’re grateful to Philip Urofsky and Dan Newcomb, as we have been for years, for making these resources available to the compliance community.