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
Barry Vitou: Is the SFO here to stay?
Barry Vitou, a partner in Pinsent Masons in London and head of their Global Corporate Crime Team, talked with me this week about the future of the SFO.
Richard Bistrong: I used win-win fantasies to justify the corruption
Marketing and sales people working in low-integrity places are usually far removed from the victims of nearby corruption. Compliance professionals supporting a far-flung work force need to keep that cultural isolation in mind.
Richard Bistrong: The dangerous charm of agents
What is it about agents, fixers, and intermediaries that makes them so attractive while potentially toxic to multinationals?
Richard Bistrong: One more cross examination about the Africa Sting
I’ll be talking about the Africa Sting on October 26 at the FCPA Blog Conference in NYC. It will be the first time I’ve publicly discussed my role in the Sting.
Richard Bistrong: Is what I’m about to do really worth it?
A week ago I started receiving a stream of emails and “likes” congratulating me on LinkedIn for my one-year anniversary as a Contributing Editor of the FCPA Blog.
Just whose expectations will ISO 37001 certification meet?
The launch date of the new ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management System standard is close, with release expected in October.
Wells Fargo stretch goals brought out the sandbaggers
Incentive compensation is making lots of news lately, but the news is all bad. Mylan’s Epipen, Volkswagen, and Wells Fargo. Ugh.
Richard Bistrong: How, then, should we measure success?
Clayton Christensen gave a speech that later became a best-selling book called How Will You Measure Your Life. He talked about former Harvard Business School classmates who “didn’t keep the purpose of their lives front and center as they decided how to spend their time, talents, and energy.”
Richard Bistrong: In defense of, ahem, intermediaries
International success now depends on business leaders having “the foreign policy acumen to distinguish what they can and cannot do,” according to John Chipman, the director-general and chief executive of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Richard Bistrong: What not to do in prison
Last week I talked about the judicial gift of a year and a day in connection with a number of FCPA sentences. But a word of advice if that’s your sentence: When you get to prison, keep it to yourself.