On August 8, 2007, the founder (and current editor at large) published the first post on the FCPA Blog, “Delta & Pine Land Company Settles FCPA Charges.” Before Siemens, Airbus, and Goldman Sachs, there was Delta & Pine Land Company.
Delta Pine, which paid $43,000 in bribes to multiple officials of the Turkish Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, agreed to pay the SEC a $300,000 penalty and engage an independent compliance consultant. It was a typical FCPA settlement at the time.
By 2007, the FCPA had already been enacted for 30 years. In that time, enforcement was relatively steady — albeit extremely modest by today’s standards.
Siemens’ $798 million settlement in 2008 was the first nine-figure enforcement action. Before Siemens, the previous largest enforcement action was Tyco’s $50 million settlement with the SEC in 2006.
In fifteen years, the FCPA Blog has published over 8,180 posts by more than 700 contributors. From sole practitioners to chief compliance officers and police officers to heads of state, we feel incredibly grateful to have worked and corresponded with thousands of compliance professionals around the world.
We’d like to thank our senior editors and contributing editors for their friendship and generosity, and our sponsors for supporting the mission of the FCPA Blog.
The FCPA Blog started as an email list to a dozen or so clients, but has grown into a community with readers from over 195 countries every month.
Whether you’ve been reading the FCPA Blog since day one or for one day, thank you. We wouldn’t be here without you.
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