FCPA / Anti-Corruption

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On February 26, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut partially overturned the jury conviction of Lawrence Hoskins in United States v. Hoskins, acquitting the defendant of all Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) counts.  In doing so, the court found that the government had failed to demonstrate as a matter of law that Hoskins, a British citizen, had acted as an “agent” of Alstom Power Inc. (“API”), a US-based subsidiary of French multinational corporation Alstom S.A. (“Alstom”), and a “domestic concern” for purposes of FCPA jurisdiction.  This ruling is the latest twist in a case that has dealt a series of blows to the DOJ’s expansive assertion of FCPA jurisdiction over foreign defendants. As described below, however, the DOJ still has a number of tools available to prosecute non-US defendants involved in foreign corruption.
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On January 23, 2020, Transparency International published its 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI),  which measures perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries. Viewed together with the 2019 TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix,  which also includes private sector corruption, the Asia Pacific (APAC)…

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Of the record-breaking USD 2.9 billion in fines imposed by US authorities in 2019 for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), almost 95% involved Asia Pacific, primarily China and India, but also Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and South Korea.

This year, the US…

Click here to read Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s 2019 FCPA/Anti-Corruption Year in Review.

US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement authorities announced a steady stream of individual and corporate enforcement matters throughout 2019, some with eye-popping fines. Overall, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported 50 FCPA-related actions (including 31…

The World Bank Group (the Bank) published a joint Sanctions System Annual Report for fiscal year 2019 on October 10. This report, which reflects on the Sanctions System’s growth since its implementation twenty years ago, provides an overview of activities undertaken by the Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT), Office of Suspension and Debarment (OSD), and…

On September 5, OFAC issued regulations to implement Executive Order (EO) 13851 related to the situation in Nicaragua.  Signed on November 27, 2018, EO 13851 blocks the property of persons who served as Nicaraguan government officials at any time on or after January 10, 2007, persons who are responsible or complicit in serious human rights abuses, undermining democracy, threatening peace and security, or corruption and expropriation.  It also blocks leaders or officials of entities that have engaged in such practices, as well as entities owned by persons blocked by the EO.

EO 13851 does not restrict general exports or imports involving Nicaragua.  Rather it is targeted at prohibiting US persons from engaging in transactions with designated persons and entities, and any undesignated entities that are owned 50 percent or more by one or more designated entities or persons.

The order also authorizes the US government to block the property of any persons, including non-U.S. persons, that materially assist, or provide financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, persons and entities blocked by the order, as well as persons that provide support for human rights abuses, threats to peace and security, corruption and other activities described in the order.…
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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division announced the publication of updated Guidance on Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs (2019 Guidance) on April 30, 2019. As discussed in our 2017 FCPA Mid-Year Review, the original guidance, published on February 8, 2017 (2017 Guidance), essentially set forth a list of 11 topics and over 100 …

US government enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) remained robust in 2018, and the trend of increasing multi-jurisdictional cooperation and enforcement continued throughout the year. In the United States, the 33 combined individual and corporate FCPA enforcement actions concluded by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in …

On August 24, 2018, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected an attempt by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to expand the jurisdictional reach of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) over foreign nationals. The three-judge panel affirmed the lower court’s ruling in United States v. Hoskins that a non-resident foreign national …