International Cooperation Grows In Anti-Corruption Enforcement

Trend is highlighted in a new FCPA/Anti-Bribery publication and a seminar on U.S.-Mexico transactions.

The publication is Hughes Hubbard’s booklet titled “FCPA/Anti-Bribery Spring Alert 2011,” which is updated every year. According to the FCPA Blog, it is one of the “best digests around” and “this year’s edition …sets a new standard for FCPA-related discussion. It’s a combination of exposition, opinion piece and encyclopedia — all of it top-notch in content and presentation.” Important trends that the FCPA/Anti-Bribery Spring Alert 2011 identifies and analyzes include both increased cooperation between U.S. and international anti-corruption authorities, and other countries’ own increased enforcement of their own anti-corruption laws.

Mexico is no exception to these trends. Both the publication and the seminar, organized by Hughes Hubbard with the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, discussed several recent U.S. anti-corruption cases involving companies doing business in Mexico. In one recent case, the U.S. Department of Justice specifically thanked the Mexican authorities for their ongoing assistance in the matter.

The leader of Hughes Hubbard’s Anti-Corruption and Internal Investigations Group, Kevin Abikoff, is one of the authors of the new FCPA/Anti-Bribery publication. He moderated and spoke at the seminar, entitled “Business Transactions Between Mexico and the U.S.: Compliance with Anti-Corruption and Anti-Money Laundering Regulations”, which was held in New York. He also was recently named the first-ever external corporate compliance monitor jointly approved by U.S. and U.K. authorities. Other speakers at the seminar were Jose Luis Stein of the Mexico Ministry of Finance’s Financial Intelligence Unit and Frederick Curry of Forensic & Dispute Services at Deloitte.

The “FCPA/Anti-Bribery Spring Alert 2011” booklet is available for download here. To obtain a paper copy or for more information on these developments, please contact Kevin Abikoff.