Here’s everything new in the Second Edition of the FCPA Resource Guide

The DOJ and SEC published the Second Edition of A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Friday, updating for the first time the best government-produced FCPA guidance.

The FCPA Resource Guide was originally published in November 2012 and hasn’t been updated until now.

A lot of important FCPA-related enforcement actions and legal changes have occurred since 2012, and the Second Edition covers them.

There are fresh discussions about hospitality and gifts, third-party payments, successor liability — and what it means for due diligence in mergers and acquisitions, and so on.

New headings in the Second Edition of the FCPA Resource Guide include:

• Confidential Reporting and Internal Investigation
• Continuous Improvement: Periodic Testing and Review, Investigation, Analysis
• Investigation, Analysis, and Remediation of Misconduct
• the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, and
• Other Guidance on Compliance and International Best Practices.

A small sample of new cases discussed or cited includes:

United States v. Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (coordinated FCPA resolutions and avoiding “piling on”)

United States v. Ng Lap Seng (local law defense)

United States v. Esquenazi (the meaning of “instrumentality” in the FCPA)

United States v. Hoskins (employee acting as agent for affiliated company)

Kokesh v. SEC (statute of limitations and disgorgement)

United States v. Société Générale (enforcement focus on the financial services industry)

United States v. Cyrus Allen Ahsani, et al. (employees bribing foreign officials and also enriching themselves at the expense of their employer)

 . . . among many, many more.

The Second Edition of A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (July 2020) is here.

Here’s a highlighted version showing what’s new. Download the highlighted version here.