Foreign Corrupt Practices Act News

Non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements (NPAs, DPAs) are the most troubling and toxic feature of our criminal justice system relevant to business organizations.

Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anti-corruption laws and regulations is a reason for optimism that fraud of the type that led to the Ralph Lauren Corp. settlement with the U.S. government will decline, said one longtime anti-money laundering advocate.

One year ago, the New York Times ran a major story titled “Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle.” The conduct at issue in the Times article related to Wal-Mart’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico (Wal-Mart Mexico), and suggested that Wal-Mart Mexico “orchestrated a campaign of bribery to win market dominance” and that the entity “paid bribes to obtain permits in virtually every corner” of Mexico.

While the ATS and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are separated by 188 years in terms of enactment, the statutes have often being viewed by some as siblings, or at least distant cousins within the same family.

As recently as February, Panamanian police were closing in on Jald Jensen, a former sales manager at BizJet International Sales Inc., and prosecutors believed a successful extradition was enticingly close.

The U.S. intervenes, I disagree, I agree, and say what.  It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation keeps its word. Would-be white collar criminals would be wise to bear that in mind, it appears. Court documents unsealed last week show that a former executive of a U.S. subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group went undercover as part of a U.S. investigation into bribes paid abroad by that unit. 

Foreign bribery enforcement has been disappointingly low in countries like Canada, Australia, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Japan, according to Nicola Bonucci, director of legal affairs for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.