Department of Justice Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement Initiatives
January 17, 2017
January 17, 2017
In the past year, the DOJ has continued to take an aggressive stance in the criminal enforcement of the U.S. foreign anti-bribery statute, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). In fact, two of the largest fines ever imposed in an FCPA-related action occurred in 2016 with VimpelCom Ltd. and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, each with combined penalties to the DOJ and the SEC of approximately $400 million.
The past year has also seen enhanced transparency by the DOJ in connection with its April 2016 FCPA Pilot Program, articulating the circumstances in which the DOJ will accord credit to companies based on self-reporting violations, cooperation during the investigation and remediation. Under the one-year Pilot Program, a company that meets the stated criteria can—at the discretion of the DOJ—receive up to a 50 percent reduction in penalties or even a declination to prosecute, provided the company disgorges the ill-gotten profits. Both in public remarks by DOJ officials and in connection with its announcement of resolutions of FCPA violations, the DOJ has continued to tout individual accountability as a primary means of deterring corruption in its focus on individual actors at the outset of an investigation and on remedial disciplinary action taken by companies against culpable individuals, including in the executive ranks.
In light of these trends, we believe boards should consider the following observations in 2017: