Richard Bistrong | Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong spent his career as an international sales executive and currently consults, writes and speaks on foreign bribery and compliance issues from that front-line perspective.
He was named to Compliance Week’s list of Top Minds in 2017 and was one of Ethisphere’s 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics in 2015.
Richard was the vice president of international sales for a large, publicly traded defense supplier, which included residing in the UK and extensive overseas travel.
In 2007, as part of a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and subsequent Immunity from Prosecution in the UK, Richard assisted the U.S., UK, and other governments in understanding how FCPA and other bribery and export violations occurred in international sales.
In 2012, after the collapse of the Africa Sting prosecution, Richard was sentenced as part of his own plea agreement, and served fourteen-and-a-half months at a U.S. federal prison camp.
He holds an MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.
Richard writes about current anti-bribery and compliance issues at www.richardbistrong.com. Information about his consulting practice, Front-Line Anti-Bribery LLC, can also be found on that website.
Recent Posts
Compliance training video about third-party risks wins prestigious industry award
A compliance training video co-produced by Mastercard and now available to other corporations about the perils of inappropriate and unethical relationships with third parties has

Keeping brand values intact when the sky is falling
Last week I talked with Denise Lee Yohn, author of the bestseller, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies. She’s one
A lesson for today, from my ten-year FCPA crucible
Before I walked into my first DOJ proffer session, the defense lawyer in my FCPA case said, “Richard, there are no guarantees here, and the

After Covid-19, will ‘compliance pauses’ be part of the recovery?
When the coronavirus lifts, as it sometime will, our global supply chains and sales cycles will again ramp up. There will then be tremendous and
‘Crude Intentions’ cuts through the bling of natural resource corruption
Alexandra Gillies, who sometimes writes for the FCPA Blog, has published a new book, Crude Intentions: How Oil Corruption Contaminates the World. I recently spoke

I was tested for Covid-19 at a drive-through center
While the coronavirus pandemic was just starting to take hold in Europe and the United Kingdom, I was overseas. I learned that someone in a

Compliance pros face risk dilemmas from coronavirus
When I returned recently from two weeks of speaking engagements in Europe, our world had radically changed. As the news of the coronavirus expanded exponentially,

I had a front row seat to a multi-agency enforcement negotiation
In late 2007, while cooperating with one investigatory agency in London, I found out that another agency was also looking for me: Her Majesty’s Revenue

Lori Loughlin stands at a criminal defendant’s fateful crossroad
Last week the FCPA Blog published a provocative post, “Lori Loughlin: How ‘clearing her name’ could ruin her life.” While I’m sure it was a

Mastercard-produced training videos now available for everyone
Mastercard has followed the success of its first compliance training video with a second release, this time about the perils of getting too close and