FCPA Compliance Report

I end this one month series by taking things a different direction. Today I do not focus on third party risk management but on third parties as a compliance innovation source for your organization. It is universally recognized that third parties are your highest Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) risk. What if you could turn your third party from a liability under the FCPA to an innovation partn...

In this Part I of a two part series recorded at this month's European Compliance and Ethics Institute in Prague, Roy Snell discuss the DOJ's Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in the context of cavemen and Plato's Analogy of the Cave. We review some of the new information and Roy discusses how it is a compilation of many differing strands of compliance thought over the past 20 year. We th...

One of the areas many companies do not focus on enough is possible corruption in their Supply Chain (SC) for goods and services provided on a company’s behalf. The FCPA risks can be just as great through those entry points as it can be through the sales side of an organization. You need to know who your company is doing business with through the SC as much as you need to know your agents seeking b...

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) world is littered with cases involving freight forwarders, brokers and agents in the shipping and express delivery arena. Both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have aggressively pursued third party business relationships where bribery and corruption have been found. This is particularly true where companies are re...

In this episode I visit with white collar defense and Qui Tam specialist Joel Androphy about prosecution of whistleblower claims at the federal and state level. Androphy explains what type of evidence is required to file such a claim, have the government take over the action and what a whistleblower may expect. It is a fascinating view from a whistleblower expert counsel at the state and federal l...

One of the issues in any compliance program is the compensation paid to a third party as FCPA exposure arises when companies pay money - either directly or indirectly - to fund bribe payments.  In the traditional intermediary scenario, the company funnels money to the agent or consultant, who then passes on some or all of it to the bribe recipient.  Often, the payment is disguised as compensation...

In this episode, Matt Kelly and I take a very deep dive into two recent speeches by Department of Justice (DOJ) Acting Principal Assistant Attorney General Trevor McFadden in which he addressed multiple topics and issues around the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The first set of remarks were made in Washington DC at the Anti-Corruption, Export Controls & Sanctions (ACES) 10th Compliance Sum...

At some point, you will be required to terminate a third-party and there will be multiple legal, compliance and business issues to navigate going forward. If you are stuck doing it in the middle of a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or Bribery Act investigation, such as Airbus is currently under with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), there may well be some tension to do so and do so quickly....

In this episode, Jay Rosen returns from a week’s trip to Walt Disney World. Jay and I have a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance related stories. We discuss: DOJ Criminal Division's Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General remarks on the FCPA and its enforcement. - See text of speech by clicking here. See Matt Kelly’s blog post by clicking here. Whistleblowers in...

One area that has bedeviled Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) and compliance practitioners is how to determine the return on investment (ROI) for your compliance program regarding third parties. While it is still clear that third parties are the greatest risk in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions, senior management often wants to know what is the monetary benefit to the compan...

When was the last time you considered the health of your company’s third party management program? A good way to test that well-being is to perform a check-up on your third party program. An article entitled “Third Party Essentials: A Reputation/Liability Checkup When Using Third Parties Globally”, provided a manner for the compliance practitioner to test an “organizations health status concerning...

Internal controls are a key tool to operationalize your third party risk management program. Initially, a compliance practitioner should perform an analysis of any third party representative to provide insight into the pattern of dealings with such third parties and, therefore, the areas where additional controls should be considered. The basic internal controls, that should be a part of any finan...

In this episode I am joined by Ruth Steinholtz of AretéWork, Jonathan Armstrong of Cordery Compliance and Kristy Grant-Hart of Spark Compliance Consulting and author of How To Be a Wildly Effective Compliance Officer for a roundtable discussion of the recently concluded SCCE European Compliance and Ethics Institute. We discuss some of the highlights, the changes this group of compliance practition...

Next I consider at how data analytics can be used to help detect or prevent bribery and corruption where the primary sales force used by a company is third parties. A clear majority of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations and related enforcement actions have come from the use of third parties. While sham contracting (i.e. using a third party to conduit the payment of a bribe) has lessen...

In this episode Compliance Week Editor in Chief Bill Coffin discusses the upcoming Compliance Week 2017 Conference May 22-24, 2017 in Washington DC. Coffin highlights the key note speakers and some of the other key topics for the event. He discusses how Compliance Week is an entire experience for attendees, exhibitors, speakers and guests. Best of all, listeners to this podcast can receive a disco...

Auditing of third parties is critical to any best practices compliance program and an important tool in operationalizing your compliance program. This is a key manner in which a company can manage the third party relationship after the contract is signed and one which the government will expect you to engage in going forward.  You should plan out four to six weeks in advance, you should perform th...

In this episode, Matt Kelly pinch hits for a Walt Disney World-vacationing Jay Rosen. Matt and I have a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top FCPA and compliance related stories. We discuss:  Shearman & Sterling issues its Report to the Wells Fargo Board on the fraudulent account scandal. For Tom’s three-part series see Part I, Part II and Part III. United Airlines is at it again. Clic...

The building blocks of any Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) anti-corruption compliance program lay the foundations for a best practices compliance program. For instance in the lifecycle management of third parties, most compliance practitioners understand the need for a business justification, questionnaire, due diligence, evaluation and compliance terms and conditions in contracts. However, a...

In a speech before the SIFMA Compliance and Legal Society New York Regional Seminar in November 2015, then Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell laid out metrics the Department of Justice would consider in evaluating a corporate compliance program around third parties. Caldwell began with the following question, “Does the institution sensitize third parties like vendors, agents or consultants...

In this episode Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive into the recently released, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) semi-annual white paper. The white paper providing general information about certain characteristics of emerging growth companies (EGCs). Matt and I discuss some of the PCAOB's key findings: There were 1,951 companies that identified themselves as EGCs in at least one SEC...

What is satisfactory due diligence under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)? That question seems to be more important after story on Unaoil and the subsequent release of the Panama Papers. However, both of these events largely focused on the “who” part of due diligence and the need to know whom you are doing business with going forward. However there is another important question which does...

The Justice Department Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs states in Prong 10, Appropriate Controls – What was the business rationale for the use of the third parties in question? What mechanisms have existed to ensure that the contract terms specifically described the services to be performed, that the payment terms are appropriate, that the described contractual work is performed, and th...

In this episode, I am joined by Eric Feldman, SVP at Affiliated Monitors. Eric is a long time US government employee who now helps to provide companies with monitorship services, in a wide range of areas. These include external monitors after a FCPA enforcement action, monitorships with companies who contract with the federal government, state and local authorities. Eric discusses the strategic us...

An important part of the job duties of any compliance practitioner is clearing red flags which might appear for a proposed third-party relationship during the due diligence process. It is mandatory that not only must all red flags be cleared but there also be evidence of the decision-making process to show to a regulator if one comes knocking. The Justice Department Evaluation of Corporate Complia...

Show Notes for Episode 47, for the week ending April 7, the Season Opener Edition In this episode, Jay and I have a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top FCPA and compliance related stories. We discuss:  Wrap up from the SCCE European Compliance and Ethics Institute. SEC Unit Chief Kara Brockmeyer announces her retirement. Click here for Matt Kelly’s article on Radical Compliance. Wal-...