News and commentary about white-collar crime, enforcement, and compliance
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
Russell A. Stamets
Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong
Contributing Editor
Eric Carlson
Contributing Editor
On Monday, Kyle Sheahen told us how useless the FCPA’s two affirmative defenses are. He suggested that Congress fix the local-law and promotional-expenses defenses.
But at least two readers, one from the private sector and another from the DOJ (apparently), dissented.… Continue Reading
There’s provocative new FCPA scholarship from Kyle Sheahen, left, UCLA Law ’10 and an incoming associate at the New York office of King & Spalding.
He told us about it in this note:
* * *
Dear FCPA Blog,
It’s no secret that FCPA defendants fare poorly at trial. … Continue Reading
Beauty-products giant Avon Products Inc. reportedly suspended four employees pending its internal bribery investigation. Reuters and others today said the world’s largest direct marketer put three executives in China and another in New York on administrative leave.… Continue Reading
According to its latest consolidated financial statements, Alcatel-Lucent has reached agreement in principle with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offenses related to Costa Rica, Taiwan and Kenya.… Continue Reading
California-based telecoms equipment maker UTStarcom Inc. agreed today to pay the Justice Department $1.5 million in criminal fines and the SEC an additional $1.5 in penalties to resolve Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in China and Thailand.… Continue Reading
Evan Osnos’s latest Letter from China in the New Yorker (here) describes what he calls the gift-imperative — the constant cultural pressure to give gifts and accept them in business and professional settings.… Continue Reading
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act doesn’t prohibit all payments to foreign officials. It’s not that broad. What it does prohibit are corrupt payments made to obtain or retain business.
Which means the application of the law isn’t necessarily black and white.… Continue Reading
Last month we reported a settlement in a suit by General Electric’s former in-house counsel, Adriana Koeck. She claimed she was fired in retaliation for whistleblower activity protected by Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (18 U.S.C.… Continue Reading
Since hearing about Allen Stanford’s cozy relationships with certain Caribbean leaders, we’ve wondered if he’ll eventually face criminal charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Neither bribery nor the FCPA have been mentioned yet in connection with Stanford.… Continue Reading
Las Vegas is Everyman’s cut-rate Babylon. Not far away there is, or was, a roadside lunch counter and over it a sign proclaiming in three words that a Roman emperor’s orgy is now a democratic institution.… Continue Reading
Beauty-products giant Avon said Monday it has launched an internal investigation into possible Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in China. The investigation may be linked to the payment of improper promotional expenses.… Continue Reading
Legal loopholes, the conventional wisdom goes, expand over time, until there’s more hole than donut. But is that true of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? Have its three Congressionally created loopholes — two affirmative defenses and one exception — gotten bigger over time?… Continue Reading