Tag: Gibson Dunn

2009 Year-End FCPA Update

gibsondunn

In case you missed it, 2009 was full of FCPA enforcement actions and trials. The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission worked hand in hand over the past year bringing actions for FCPA violations. They set a record by bringing more FCPA prosecutions during 2009 than in any prior year in the FCPA’s history.

From Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
From Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

To pull it all together, the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP put together a 2009 Year-End FCPA Update.

This update provides an overview of the FCPA and a survey of FCPA enforcement activities during 2009.  It also analyzes recent enforcement trends and offers practical guidance to help companies and their executives avoid or minimize liability under the FCPA.

They also claim that there are over 100 FCPA investigations pending at the Justice Department, and “a robust stock of FCPA matters” under investigation at the SEC.

Mike Koehler takes issue with some of the numbers. But you can’t argue with the success of FCPA actions over the past year. Success breed success. In response the DOJ and SEC have organized special groups to focus on FCPA violations. I expect that we will continue to see more activity in this area.

References:

Gibson Dunn 2008 Year-End FCPA Update

gibsondunn
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has published its 2008 Year-End FCPA Update.

By any measure, 2008 was a monster year in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement.  With thirty-three enforcement actions between the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the statute’s dual enforcers, 2008 was the second busiest numerical year on the books, trailing only 2007.  But beyond the numbers (after all, with the massive Siemens resolution, 2008 dwarfs all other years combined in fines and disgorgement), 2008 saw the FCPA’s enforcement regime mature like never before.  There were no unimportant FCPA enforcement actions this year.  Whether the trend was increasingly aggressive enforcement against individuals, ramped up international coordination, the joining of FCPA prosecutions with prosecutions for distinct federal crimes, or others trends discussed herein, every case fits an important trend in foreign bribery enforcement that we expect to continue into 2009 and beyond.

They go on to highlight five trends in FCPA enforcement:

1.  Escalating corporate financial penalties;
2.   Increasing focus on individual prosecutions;
3.   Internationalization of foreign anti-corruption enforcement;
4.   DOJ’s coupling of FCPA prosecutions with other charges; and
5.   Continuing upswing in FCPA litigation.