Harry Cassin
Publisher and Editor
Andy Spalding
Senior Editor
Jessica Tillipman
Senior Editor
Bill Steinman
Senior Editor
Richard L. Cassin
Editor at Large
Elizabeth K. Spahn
Editor Emeritus
Cody Worthington
Contributing Editor
Julie DiMauro
Contributing Editor
Thomas Fox
Contributing Editor
Marc Alain Bohn
Contributing Editor
Bill Waite
Contributing Editor
Shruti J. Shah
Contributing Editor
Russell A. Stamets
Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong
Contributing Editor
Eric Carlson
Contributing Editor
Here’s a strange fact. Some corporate anti-bribery policies give no reason for employees not to pay bribes. Or rather, the only reason they give is that the company doesn’t allow or tolerate bribery.… Continue Reading
My serious purpose in asking if agents are legal under the FCPA is about compliance with the accounting standards.… Continue Reading
In the prior post, I described recent FCPA enforcement actions — involving Stryker, Polycom, Microsoft, and Juniper Networks — which show that the SEC is on an ‘internal controls rampage’ involving the way issuers (public companies) establish and manage relationships with third parties, particularly distributors and resellers.… Continue Reading
Over the last two years, the Securities and Exchange Commission has set its sights on distributor and reseller relationships, and excoriated companies that failed to adequately manage and supervise them. The focus on these third-party relationships is part of the agency’s broader application of the FCPA’s internal controls provision in an increasingly aggressive manner.… Continue Reading
Nearly every corporate anti-bribery violation reveals problems with internal controls.
Again and again SEC enforcement actions describe devious employees who were able to subvert the controls and thereby create slush funds and pay bribes, or controls that were weak to begin with and incapable of detecting or stopping the corrupt actors.… Continue Reading
Two former senior executives of U.S.-based Panasonic Avionics Corporation settled SEC charges Tuesday related to FCPA offenses that Panasonic Corporation and the U.S. aviation unit settled earlier this year.
Paul A.… Continue Reading
When choosing transactions to test as part of anti-bribery assessments, the usual suspects include expense accounts like consulting, marketing, promotions, commissions, or miscellaneous. Other expense accounts are selected based on the nature of the company’s business, risk factors or descriptions of the account.… Continue Reading
Last year 27 companies paid nearly $2.5 billion to resolve FCPA-related offenses. So far this year, 9 companies have paid more than $1.2 billion for FCPA-related settlements. Yet despite these staggering outcomes, existing tools deployed today by corporations are not capable of effectively mitigating FCPA risk.… Continue Reading
In the prior post, we talked about reasonable goal setting that can turn into perverse incentives, leading to compliance and reputational disasters like Wells Fargo. In this post, we look at whether companies can contain the excesses of their incentive programs with controls.… Continue Reading
Houston-based Key Energy Services, Inc. agreed to disgorge $5 million to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offenses caused by bribes from its Mexican subsidiary to an employee at state-owned Pemex.
The SEC Friday charged Key Energy in an internal administrative order with violating the FCPA’s internal controls and books-and-records provisions.… Continue Reading
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that software maker SAP SE agreed to pay nearly $3.9 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to win business in Panama.… Continue Reading
The SEC took a seemingly aggressive stance in the BHP Billiton case, penalizing the Australian company $25 million for FCPA offenses because it sponsored foreign officials to attend the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.… Continue Reading
