Both federal agencies are aligning their enforcement priorities with the Administration’s foreign policy goals, signaling heightened scrutiny of cross-border misconduct and increased compliance expectations for multinational organizations and their auditors and advisers.
Companies should mark their calendars now — expect criminal tariff evasion cases in 2026.
Many countries where American companies do business have an array of business practices and customs that might be frowned upon in this country, but whether they cross the sometimes-blurry lines of legality isn't always clear. The club enforcers wield is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
FEPA, which amends the federal domestic bribery statute has been touted by some as "the most sweeping and consequential foreign bribery law in nearly half a century." But will it end up being an influential force combatting corruption or a paper tiger?
The Biden administration and its Justice Department have established countering corruption as a core U.S. national security interest. Companies with any international operations should ensure they have a robust written policy and compliance program focused on anti-bribery and corruption.
This article examines the impact of Hoskins on three issues of importance to white-collar practitioners: the scope of the FCPA; the interpretation of white-collar criminal statutes; and the authority of the district court to consider at the outset of a prosecution threshold questions of the reach of the law to foreign individuals.
Despite the FCPA's breadth and its aggressive enforcement, it has largely escaped judicial scrutiny. Individuals and companies are reluctant to test the bounds of the law and risk federal prison or crippling penalties. But one man has refused to fall in line and has almost single-handedly shaped recent FCPA jurisprudence.
In recent years, U.S. prosecutors and regulators have shown increasing interest in prosecuting people and entities with little or no connection to the United States. This trend has been especially pronounced in the context of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and has also extended beyond the FCPA to the prosecution of white-collar crime more generally.
The increasing number of regulators and enforcement agencies bringing foreign bribery cases across the globe raises the specter of successive or "carbon copy" cases. Policymakers and practitioners need to be aware of this developing risk and take steps to mitigate it.
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue this second edition contains some new "hypotheticals" — facts of actual cases the DOJ finds important enough to focus on — and, in keeping true to its name, has included additional resources and links for chief compliance officers looking to design and audit their companies' anticorruption compliance programs.
