Foreign Corrupt Practices Act News

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.