The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) was passed in 1977 in response to the bribery of foreign government officials by U.S. companies to obtain business overseas, and it has been amended twice since originally enacted. Its antibribery provisions are enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while its recordkeeping and accounting provisions are enforced by the SEC. Both the DOJ and SEC are increasing their enforcement of FCPA, with the SEC becoming particularly active with respect to foreign subsidiary misconduct. Companies doing business overseas — particularly in high-risk, emerging-market countries — need to make sure they have in place sound compliance processes and internal controls to prevent and/or alleviate violations of FCPA.
At Foley’s sixth annual National Directors Institute on March 8, 2007 in Chicago, “Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Developments,” was a featured session moderated by Sharie Brown, partner and chair of the White Collar Defense & Corporate Compliance Practice, Foley & Lardner LLP. Luis Ortega, senior manager of Forensic and Investigative Services, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, assisted as co-moderator. The panelists included Israel Floyd, corporate secretary and general counsel, Hercules Incorporated; Eric Hinton, corporate ethics and compliance manager, Caterpillar, Inc.; Joseph Perkins, senior counsel, Cummins, Inc.; Javier Robles, senior counsel and chief ethics officer, The Western Union Company; and Ivonne Mena King, partner and vice chair of the White Collar Defense & Corporate Compliance Practice, Foley & Lardner LLP.
