New Anti-Bribery Alert Shows Companies How to Avoid FCPA Land Mines

November 30, 2018 - In an interview with Corporate Counsel, Laura Perkins discussed the 2018 FCPA & Anti-Bribery Alert released by the firm on Nov. 27.

The Nov. 28 article, "New Anti-Bribery Alert Shows Companies How to Avoid FCPA Land Mines," discussed the key takeaways from the Alert, including the main point noted by Perkins, namely "that enforcement internationally has increased tremendously over the last few years." The article noted that, of the Alert's six chapters, four deal with international developments in anti-corruption, including those in the U.K., France and China.

Another chapter discusses trends and developments in U.S. enforcement. Among the DOJ developments in the past year was DOJ's corporate enforcement policy. "I think it is the Justice Department sending the message that early remediation is very important," she said. "General counsel and compliance officers should take notice." She advised that, when wrongdoing is discovered, GCs and compliance officers should take immediate steps to stop the misconduct, and immediately enhance compliance to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"The policy talks about a key factor in deciding on whether to appoint a monitor, and that factor is whether there was early remediation," Perkins said. "Companies need to demonstrate that they instituted new policies that are currently effective. Most companies won't be able to show the second part unless they started remediation early."

To read the article, click here.