Many people are predicting the death of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement under the Trump administration.
Not so fast, says T. Markus Funk, a partner at White & Case in Chicago.
Funk sees opportunities.
“Although most reporting on the Department of Justice’s latest FCPA guidelines has emphasized the anticipated reduction in overall anti-corruption enforcement, an equally important, but less noted, aspect has emerged – the Department’s new laser-like focus on protecting US businesses harmed by competitors – particularly foreign ones – unfairly using bribery to secure business advantages,” Funk wrote recently.
“For US-based companies, this amounts to a formal invitation to level the competitive playing field by becoming whistleblowers, proactively investigating alleged competitor misconduct and making a report to the Department.”
“For non-US companies with a US jurisdictional nexus, on the other hand, the Department guidelines signal a materially enhanced risk of becoming an enforcement target.”
“People who represent companies view the term whistleblower with suspicion. That overlooks opportunities. I have represented large companies who have gone to the government and said – you should know that a competitor of ours is engaging in corrupt conduct overseas and here is the conduct. We conduct an investigation. You then pitch the government and say – here is the evidence, here are the laws. It’s almost a mirror image of what we do when we show up at the Bond...
On Friday, a video went viral across social media platforms showing a female Philadelphia Phillies fan confronting a father and his young son over a home run ball, allegedly snatching it away from ...