Friday Roundup

FCPA enforcement down 100% and some items for the weekend watch/read list.

Enforcement Down 100%

Last year at this time there were already 23 FCPA enforcement actions (22 defendants in the Africa Sting case and the Natco Group enforcement action).

So far this year there have been 0.

Thus, FCPA enforcement is down 100%.

I don't expect you to take this statistic seriously and I don't intend it to be. Rather, it is meant as a commentary on the often times odd obsession some have with FCPA enforcement statistics (misleading as they may be in many cases).

On to more meaningful commentary by others.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Two titans of the FCPA bar, Homer Moyer (here) and Martin Weinstein (here) were recently the focus of separate interviews on the BulletProofBlog as to various FCPA topics.

Informative views here and here.

For Your Reading Pleasure

Gary Stein (here - Schulte Roth & Zable) has an informative overview (here) of "Sentencing of Individuals in FCPA Cases."

I've been documenting the growing trend of judges significantly rejecting DOJ sentencing recommendations in FCPA cases (see here) and Stein "hits the nail on the head" with this paragraph:

"The DOJ exercises virtually unlimited discretion in deciding who gets charged in FCPA cases and, for all practical purposes, in deciding the amount of the financial penalty imposed against corporate violators. But sentencing of individual defendants, particularly after U.S. v. Booker, is ultimately a matter of judicial, not prosecutorial discretion. And it has become apparent that there is a wide and growing rift between the views of the DOJ and the courts as to the appropriate sentences for individual violators in FCPA cases."

Tired of all the "are you ready" hysteria surrounding the U.K. Bribery Act?

If so, you will want to read "Keep Calm and Carry On" (here) by Alexandra Wrage (President of Trace) recently published by In Compliance Magazine. Among other things, Wrage states that "the argument that companies that have navigated FCPA waters for a decade or more are unprepared for the new UK Act is unfounded."

See here for my "bold" prediction that implementation of the U.K. Bribery Act (whenever that occurs) is not that big of deal for most companies and that U.K. enforcement of the Bribery Act is likely to be measured and disciplined.

*****

A good weekend to all.