Happy New Year

We wish all our readers, contributors, and sponsors a Happy New Year.

This blog was launched in 2007 with a short post about an enforcement action against Textron. That company’s compliance problems, we noted, were caused by fifth-tier French subsidiaries.

Nearly a thousand posts later, that first one is still a favorite of ours. Although brief, it broke the ice — and reminded our few initial readers about the dangers that lurk in overseas operations.

We wanted to start posting about the FCPA years earlier but had to wait a while. Blogging from a big law firm about white-collar crime is nearly impossible. It’s tough to say anything authentic with hundreds of lawyers in the mix, and thousands of clients with their own interests. But by 2007, the time was right.

The idea behind the blog was simple enough — put information about the statute and its enforcement into circulation in an informal setting and see where the conversation goes from there.

The experiment worked. Early readers sent questions and ideas for posts, along with constructive criticism. It all helped.

Even so, about three months into the enterprise, we thought maybe we’d said everything that needed saying about the FCPA, and we considered a graceful exit. Then some news came our way from the DOJ, and more ideas from readers, and things began to flow. It’s been that way ever since.

In truth, we’ve never been alone here. So many great posts are courtesy of bylined contributors. Those generous souls come from all parts of the compliance community — practicing lawyers, academicians, NGO leaders, auditors, journalists, students, and others. Other contributors want to remain anonymous.

And for sure, we wouldn’t be here without the generous support of the sponsors, whose cheerful banners appear on every page. Please visit them to show your appreciation.

Thanks for being part of the FCPA Blog.

And remember to keep a close eye on those fifth-tier French subsidiaries.