Foreign Corrupt Practices Act News

Several court decisions in trials under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act during the first quarter of 2013 have tested the enforcement positions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on some critical issues, including jurisdiction, the application of relevant statutes of limitations and the agency's burden to plead specific elements of a violation. The results for the agency have been mixed, although the decisions produced only one case dismissal.

When apparel maker Ralph Lauren Corp. first discovered that one of its employees had been bribing custom officials in Argentina, the company immediately notified the U.S. government, offering its employees for interviews and turning over documents. In exchange, Ralph Lauren on April 22 obtained nonprosecution agreements with both the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company agreed to pay about $1.6 million in penalties to resolve claims that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

It's been a busy couple of weeks for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department's versatile and hard-working anti-bribery law. On April 22, Ralph Lauren paid an $882,000 penalty in a non-prosecution agreement that resolved FCPA allegations of bribing a customs official in Argentina to permit the import of Ralph Lauren products. 

Federal prosecutors are asking that foreign bribery charges against Daimler AG be dismissed, roughly 13 months after a two-year deferred prosecution agreement had originally been set to expire.