House Hearing - Overview and Observations

Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) today chaired a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security titled "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act." (See here for the video).

This post provides a chronological overview of the hearing as well as observations.

Compared to the Senate's FCPA hearing in November 2010 (see here for the prior post) today's hearing (approximately two hours) was much more contentious. For instance, during the hearing Chairman Sensenbrenner noted that FCPA enforcement has become a "considerable windfall for the federal government" and he concluded the hearing by telling Greg Andres (DOJ) that it "would behoove the DOJ to realize that the statute needs updating" and that those on the Committee will be drafting a reform bill.

The hearing focused on a wide range of issues and in many ways was similar to FCPA reform hearings in the 1980's in that a common theme explored during the hearing was whether the current state of FCPA enforcement harms U.S. business.

There is clearly a push to introduce FCPA reform legislation and members of both parties appeared receptive (to at least certain) FCPA reform proposals most notably clarifying the FCPA's definition of "foreign official" / "instrumentality" and exploring an FCPA compliance defense. In fact, John Conyers (D-MI), who appeared most supportive of the current state of FCPA enforcement, stated he would support such reform proposals. The DOJ supports neither of these proposals.

Other issues explored in the hearing included prosecutorial discretion and DOJ declination decisions - including a request that the DOJ provide further information as to its declination decisions.

What happens next is a good question.

It seems like an FCPA reform bill will soon be introduced and hearings as to the specifics of such a bill may occur. Whether such a bill can get out of committee for full consideration by the House, and whether similar bills will be introduced in the Senate, is the open question. Politically, any FCPA reform efforts are likely, because of the topic at issue, to attract substantial opposition - including opposition that is less than informed as to the actual issues.

It bears noting that the last time Congress enacted significant FCPA amendments, the process took eight years and the statute was amended, not through a stand-alone bill, but through Title V, Subtitle A, Part I of the Omnibus Trade and Competiveness Act of 1988.

Opening Statement of Chairman Sensenbrenner

Sensenbrenner began by noting that when Congress passed the FCPA in 1977 the "world was a different place." In response to slush funds and secret payments to foreign governments that adversely affected U.S. foreign policy, Congress passed the FCPA and the law "sent a strong signal." (For an overview of the facts and circumstances motivating Congress to pass the FCPA - see here).

Sensenebrenner next observed that thirty-four years later, the world has turned upside down, China is a power, the nature of overseas business has changed, and many countries have some state-control over business.

Sensenbrenner noted that there has been a dramatic increase in FCPA prosecution and that last year approximately 1/2 of all DOJ criminal penalties were in FCPA cases (see here for the DOJ release) - a dynamic he called a "considerable windfall for the federal government."

In touching upon themes similar to when Congress held substantive FCPA hearings in the mid-1980's, Sensenbrenner placed the increase in FCPA enforcement in the context of the current economic downturn. Indeed a theme throughout the hearing was that the current state of FCPA enforcement may be harming U.S. business interests.

Sensenbrenner stated that "FCPA prosecutions should be effective and fair," but also "predictable" so that the "rules of the road are clear" so that "business can start moving again."

In closing his opening statement, Sensenbrenner stated that the Committee was well-suited to examine the impact of the FCPA and to ask hard questions - such as whether the FCPA was succeeding in its mission or hurting job creation.

Opening Statement of Ranking Member Scott

Robert Scott (D-VA) next made an opening statement. Scott summarized the reform proposals including providing greater clarity to the "foreign official" definition. As a potential compliance affirmative defense, Scott observed that companies are spending substantial sums - millions of dollars in some cases - on FCPA compliance - a result he indicated may often result in "overcompliance" because companies would rather be "safe than sorry." Scott stated that "punishing those companies and individuals who are operating in good faith runs counter to the basic tenets of fairness and justice." He also indicated that successor liability "runs counter" to a system of justice that should only punish the guilty party.

In closing, Scott said that effective enforcement of the FCPA is "crucial" and he applauded aggressive enforcement of the law. At the same time, Scott noted the necessity of periodically reviewing laws to make sure "they remain fair and just."

Opening Statement of John Conyers

John Conyers (D-MI) also made an opening statement. After a few sentences about unemployment figures and the Obama administration, Conyers asked the following question: will somebody explain to me how 140 cases in 10 years is "overly aggressive prosecution."

Conyers did indicate in his opening statement that he does support certain FCPA reform proposals. As to clarification of "foreign official," Conyers said he can "support this one" because it can create a problem when those subject to the FCPA do not have a clear understanding of who a "foreign official" is. Conyers also said that he can support the addition of a compliance defenses so that companies can fight imposition of criminal liability if individual employees and agents circumvent compliance measures. Conyers did not support other FCPA reform proposals - such as limiting successor liability, limiting parent company liability for acts of foreign subsidiaries, and adding a wilful mens rea requirement for corporations.

Statement by Greg Andres

Greg Andres (Deputy Assistant Attorney General) next delivered an opening statement. His prepared statement can be found here.

Among other things, Andres noted that DOJ's FCPA prosecutions involve "systemic long-standing bribery schemes" not the payment of single bribe payments of nominal sums.

Andres specifically cited the Daimler AG and Siemens FCPA prosecutions to support this point. However, the irony is that neither of these FCPA enforcement actions involved FCPA anti-bribery charges against the parent company or any related individual prosecutions.

As to a potential FCPA compliance defense, Andres stated that the DOJ already considers a company's pre-existing compliance policies and procedures pursuant to the Federal Principles of Prosecution of Business Organizations (see here).

As to providing guidance, Andres noted that the DOJ's goal "is not simply to prosecute FCPA cases" and that senior DOJ officials often speak publicly on the FCPA and highlight relevant considerations and practices companies should adopt. Andres also discussed the DOJ's FCPA Opinion Procedure program (see here for more).

In closing, Andres stated that DOJ is proud of its enforcement record and that it looks forward to working with Congress.

Statement by Michael Mukasey

Former Attorney General and current Debevoise & Plimpton partner Michael Mukasey next delivered an opening statement on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. See here for his prepared statement.

Mukasey began by noting that no one favors bribery and that while the FCPA indeed does have merit, "more than 30 years of experience" with the law demonstrates that it can be improved.

His testimony focused on two of the Chamber's FCPA reform proposals: clarifying the definition of "foreign official" and "instrumentality" and amending the FCPA to include a compliance defense.

As to the later, Mukasey observed that statutory guidance can be found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act which provides for something akin to a compliance defense. Mukasey stated that "dozens, if not hundreds of cases are resolved under this compliance defense" and that the defense reduces discrimination by encouraging employers to have robust compliance systems.

As to "foreign official," Mukasey referenced the recent judicial opinions on this issue (see here and here for the prior posts), yet noted that the judges did very little to clarify the limits of the "foreign official" issue other than say that whether an employee of an alleged state-owned or state-controlled enterprise could constitute a "foreign official" varied depending on the circumstances. Mukasey stated that leaving this issue in the hands of a jury in a criminal trial makes it "impossible" for companies to determine in advance who is a "foreign official" thereby increasing uncertainty and barriers to U.S. business. According to Mukasey, "majority ownership is the most plausible threshold" for whether a state-owned or state-controlled enterprise constitutes a foreign government "instrumentality."

Statement by George Terwilliger

George Terwilliger (White & Case) next delivered an opening statement. See here for his prepared statement.

Terwilliger opened by stating that he favors "fair enforcement of sensible corruption statutes" and that "leveling the playing field" is essential. He noted that the DOJ and SEC are "realizing their enforcement goal of driving companies into far greater compliance," but also noted the less desirable effects of stepped-up enforcement. He spoke of the "hidden effect" of foregone business opportunities because of FCPA enforcement concerns and noted that the current state of enforcement may hurt job creation.

According to Terwilliger, the "hidden costs" of FCPA enforcement are the result of uncertainty and that companies sometimes forego deals, take a pass on certain projects and withdraw from other projects - not because such companies are necessarily risk averse - but because of the risk-reward ratio in this current FCPA enforcement environment.

Terwilliger proposed a further FCPA reform proposal related to successor liability and that is a statutory safe harbor provision during which an acquiring company could be shielded from FCPA liability for a defined time period post-closing. During this post-closing period, the acquiring company would undertake a thorough review of the target's business operations and have the opportunity to self-disclose any FCPA issues to the enforcement authorities.

Statement by Shana-Tara Regon

Shana-Tara Regon (Director, White Collar Crime Policy, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) next testified. See here for her prepared statement.

She observed that given the general lack of judicial scrutiny over FCPA enforcement, the FCPA says whatever essentially the DOJ says it means and that the FCPA has, in many instances, become a strict liability statute "in ways that those who created the FCPA could never have envisoned."

Regon stated that NACDL does not advocate bribery and similarly stated that advocating for reform is not akin to advocating for bribery. Her testimony was focused on two reform proposals - clarifying the definition of "foreign official" and strengthening the mens rea requirement for corporate offenses. She stated that the FCPA is "emblematic of the general problem of overcriminalization" and that FCPA enforcement has several "unintended consequences" including over-compliance.

During the hearing, Global Financial Integrity (see here for yesterday's post) tweeted as follos: " This group of witnesses is such a sham. All three non-DOJ witnesses spewing disingenuous pro-#bribery #AmChamb talking points #FCPAHearing." (See here).

Chairman Sensenbrenner reserved his questions for the end and next called on various Representatives present.

Q&A Session

Tom Marino (R-PA) asked Andres (DOJ) about the DOJ's top enforcement obstacle.

Andres stated that because FCPA violations focus on conduct abroad, the DOJ often needs to rely on MLAT requests which can take longer. He noted that the DOJ is in favor of extending the FCPA's statute of limitations given that it generally takes a long time to investigate FCPA cases. Andres further stated that while there is much discussion as to the increase in FCPA enforcement, this discussion often "fails to recognize the size and magnitude of the problem."

Robert Scott (D-VA) next asked Mukasey whether the compliance defense proposed was a total defense or an affirmative defense. Mukasey stated that the proposal was for an affirmative defense and that where there is a proved violation of the FCPA, the question should then become whether the company had a compliance mechanism in place reasonable designed to detect and prevent the conduct. Mukasey noted that this issue may be an "uphill climb" for a company, but that the FCPA ought to at least allow a company to pursue such a defense.

Scott next asked Mukasey about the mens rea reform proposal for corporate liability. Mukasey seemed to be advocating a corporate liability standard similar to the (soon to be old) U.K. standard and the current Canada law standard when he stated that a company should only be held liable if someone in a "policy making position" was involved in or condoned the improper activity.

Scott next asked Andres (DOJ) the general question of whether any de minimis cases have ever been brought by the DOJ. Andres stated "no," the DOJ has never prosecuted "cup of coffee, lunch, taxi-ride type of cases" and he further stated that because of the FCPA's corrupt intent element and the affirmative defense for reasonable and bona fide business expenditures, it is an open question as to whether such facts even violate the statute.

Even so, Andres stated that the DOJ is opposed to creating a de minimis exception to the FCPA because small, recurring payments can amount to significant bribery. He stated that the amount of the bribe is not the relevant consideration, rather the intent of the bribe is and that all bribery is inappropriate. Andres said that all the talk of taxi-ride payments and meals being in violation of the FCPA "is not reflected in our enforcement actions."

Taxi-cabs were a recurring issue throughout the hearing. Mukasey stated, in response to a question, that the taxi-cab example is real and that when "nervous counsel" found out that a company may have paid a "foreign official's" taxi-cab fare, the company disclosed the conduct to the DOJ and the DOJ requested that the company investigate its entire relationship with the "foreign official." Mukasey stated that this investigation cost the company approximately $200,000, no violation was found, and that the company could have used this money for something more beneficial than conducting in investigation as to these facts.

Louie Gohmert (R-TX) next stated that those subject to the FCPA "ought to have a clear enough line" so that people don't have to think "is it or isn't it a bribe" to make this payment. Gohmert said that Congress can define bribery so that companies "can have a clear line" so that a company does not have to spend $200,000 to figure out whehther paying for a cab is an FCPA violation. Gohmert then made an interesting observing that the FCPA allows a "young prosecutor" or an "FBI agent seeking to make a name for himself" the opportunity to pursue all sorts of enforcement actions and that enforcement then ends up being more aggressive than it should be.

Gohmert next asked Andres (DOJ) as follows: why should a company be prosecuted if a company has a compliance program set up according to the standards set forth in Chapter 8 of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (see here). Gohmert stated that if a company has done everything it can do, it seems like a strict liability standard if the company is prosecuted because of the act of an employee acting contrary to the company's policy. Andres stated that the DOJ "does not prosecute companies based on the acts of a single, rogue employee."

Rather, Andres stated that the DOJ looks at how pervasive was the conduct or whether the conduct involved a high-ranking employee. Andres specifically stated that the DOJ opposes consideration of an FCPA compliance defense. He stated that DOJ already seriously considers compliance programs in its charging decisions, along with other factors such as cooperation and voluntary disclosure.

Andres called a potential compliance defense "novel" and one that is not "well-defined." He said that such a defense could lead to "paper compliance." He also referenced the U.K. Bribery Act (which does contain such a compliance defense) yet stated that this defense is not yet in effect and thus there is no precedent to analyze to see whether such a defense is effective.

Given that the DOJ frequently takes FCPA enforcement position that are "novel," are not "well-defined," and are not supported by precedent, Andres response on this issue was less than convincing.

In closing, Andres stated that an FCPA compliance defense could "create a loophole" and allow for some bribery to occur. He called such a potential defense "novel and risky" and said that the "time is not right to consider it."

The floor next returned to John Conyers (D-MI). He stated that ignorance of the law is no excuse and wondered why in the case of bribery does there need to be a de minimis rule. He stated that "corporations have more lawyers than anybody else" and "why do they need to know" how low the bribery threshold should be. He said that "they don't deserve to know that."

Conyers also conducted the most contentious Q&A exchange of the hearing with Regon. Conyers asked - "give me some examples of overcriminalization of the FCPA." He repeatedly interrupted Regon and asked "just give me some examples" "give me an instance of where one case was ever brought by the DOJ that would constitute overcriminalization." Conyers stated, "only 140 cases have been brought in 10 years -that averages 14 cases a year - is that overcriminalization to you?" Regon stated that overcriminlization occurs when a statute provides no reasonable limits and that she is concerned more about prosecutions that may occur in the future more so than prosecutions that have already occured.

Ted Poe (R-TX) next launched into a criticism of China. He said that "China, through its government, follows a systematic philosophy of corruption" and that China will "do anything in the world to get their way" including stealing from the U.S. and paying bribes. He suggested that "any means necessary" is the Chinese way to get business. "We on the other hand," Poe stated, "believe in the rule of law." Poe stated that the "Chinese are effective in their philosophy" and he observed that he just returned from Iraq where he learned that Chinese companies are going to rebuild Iraqi's oil system and that he suspected money changed hands in order to get this business.

Poe, a former prosecutor, next said that it "disturbs" him when we give DOJ prosecutors too much discretion. Poe said that he was not advocating loosening the standards, but he did prefer "absolute certainty" about what is a violation of the FCPA as "opposed to too much discretion" by the DOJ on what something means and whether it is a bribe.

Judy Chu (D-CA) next asked Andres a series of questions allowing him to further articulate how the DOJ takes into consideration a company's compliance program and how compliance expectations are stated in public documents such as Chapter 8 of the Sentencing Guidlines and the OECD Guidelines. (See here). Andres further stated that there are situations where the DOJ does not pursue an enforcement action because of a variety of factors, including a company's pre-existing compliance program, even if these instances are not made public because the DOJ does not issue a press release. Asked by Chu for reasons why FCPA enforcement has expanded, Andres stated that the "problem is as big as it has ever been" and that "at least one reason" for the increase in enforcement is the result of SOX whereby companies have an obligation to test its internal controls - tests that often uncover FCPA issues that are then often disclosed to the DOJ.

Hank Johnson (D-GA) next asked Regon about prosecutorial discretion and whether it is fair to say that the "looser the law the more prosecutorial discretion and the narrower the law the less prosecutorial discretion." Regon stated that if the DOJ means what it says (i.e. that it targets only explicit instances of bribery and that it does not prosecute based on the actions of rogue employees), then the DOJ should not mind less prosecutorial discretion. Johnson next launched into an unusual statement about illegal crime (blue-collar crime) and legal crime (white collar crime in the sense that prosecutions of white collar crime tend to be less vigorous). Johnson said he was bothered by the fact there has not been much prosecutorial activity as to white collar crime, he said this "seems kind of fishy" and that some "folks are getting off the hook for legal crime."

Sandra Adams (R-FL) next asked Andres whether the DOJ has a definition of "foreign official" or "instrumentality." Andres said, in addition to the statute, there are now several decisions by district courts that further "amplified" the definition of foreign official. Andres stated that DOJ does not support a change to the definition of "foreign official" or "instrumentality."

Adams next Andres several pointed questions about DOJ declination decisions and whether such decisions are published or transparent. Andres stated that this is a difficult area for the government because the DOJ does not want to "penalize a company or individual investigated by not prosecuted."

I've argued before (see here for the prior post) that the DOJ should publish its declination decisions in a manner similar to its FCPA Opinion Procedure decisions. Given that most declination decisions would seem to follow disclosure by a company of FCPA scrutiny (in its SEC filings), Andres's rationale for not making declination decisions public is less than convincing.

Adams asked - in the last year, how many instances of FCPA conduct have been disclosed to the DOJ where no enforcement action resulted. Andres did not offer any specific number, but retreated to the FCPA Opinion Procedure and noted that if a company ever has a question about the FCPA, it has the ability to ask the DOJ and the DOJ is obligated to give an opinion.

Adams next asked Andres whether the DOJ is defining what the law means. Andres said that "everyone of these cases is negotiated with experienced defense counsel" and that counsel has "ample opportunity" to address any issues concerning the DOJ's enforcement.

Mukasey then answered that while resolved FCPA enforcement actions make for interesting case studies, such resolutions are not binding in other cases.

Before her time expired, Adams requested that the DOJ provide the Committee with more detail as to its declination decisions, including the DOJ's reasons and rationale for why enforcement actions did not result. Chairman Sensenbrenner then followed up and said DOJ's responses will be made part of hearing record.

Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX) next asked Andres how many attorneys and staff are assigned to FCPA enforcement. He stated that the DOJ's FCPA unit, includes a core unit in D.C. of 15 to 20 enforcement attorneys and that assistance in trials is given by local prosecutors. Jackson Lee asked "is this an excessive amount" and Andres said "certaintly not in light of the size and magnitude of the bribery problem ... it is significant." Jackson Lee next received a tutorial from Andres as to the FCPA's jurisdiction over foreign companies.

Ben Quayle (R-AZ) next asked a question very much based on current events and that is the scrutiny of the Macau gaming industry. [Las Vegas Sands recently disclosed that it received subpoenas concerning its conduct in Macau]. Andres stated that it was not appropriate for him to comment on any ongoing investigations.

Quayle next asked Andres whethr General Motors would be considered a U.S. government "instrumentality." Andres said that in addressing this issue, the DOJ considers government ownership or investment as only one factor. Other factors include characterization of the entity under foreign law, the purpose of the entity, and that under these factors General Motors would likely not qualify as a U.S. government "instrumentality." Quayle next asked whether it is relevant if the government has communications with the company's board and the government has the ability to control or influence the entity (a presumed reference to GM's relationship with the U.S. government). Andres again stated that control and ownership is but one factor and he specifically referenced the recent Lindsey prosecution where the Mexican entity at issue was specifically addressed in the country's constitution.

Quayle next asked Terwilliger whether he has any knowledge of companies conceding markets to foreign competitors because of the FCPA. Terwilliger stated that "conceding markets" may be a bit strong, but that American companies have become much more circumspect in dealing with foreign business opportunities because of FCPA enforcement. In particular, Terwilliger said that companies may bypass "smaller opportunities" (that might become bigger opportunities) because of the FCPA in that the cost-benefit analysis and FCPA compliance are too much to worry about.

Chairman Sensenbrenner was the last person to ask questions and he began his time by stating as follows. There is "no question in my mind that we have to bring this law up to date." "No one is in favor of bribery, but there has to be more certainty." Sensenbrenner said he was "a bit befuddled" by Conyer's statement that corporations don't deserve to know what bribery is and he stated that "everyone has a right to know what is illegal."

Sensenbrenner's only question (a long one at that as he basically summarized the Chamber's FCPA reform proposals) was directed to Regon and Andres. Regon focused mostly on the corporate mens rea issue and stated that her organization is supportive of "anything Congress does" to clarify the FCPA. Tara Regon failed to see the rationale for not providing greater clarity as to the FCPA and noted that "we have many bribery statutes on the books, and some of those are written tightly and work well."

Sensenbrenner then asked Andres - which of Regon's suggestions do you agree with and Andres said "I don't agree with any of them." For instance, Andres said with the definition of "foreign official" that "one thing you need to take into consideration is that the statute covers the whole world" and that what might constitute a "foreign official" in China may be different than what constitutes a "foreign official" in Brazil or France.

Sensenbrenner grasped onto this issue and noted that this part of the uncertainty that people are complaining about.

Andres followed with two points. First, that if there is concern, companies subject to the FCPA can ask for a DOJ opinion. This only seemed to enrange Sensenbrenner further as he stated "come on, China is a communist country - they are not going to tell you what the government involvement is" in a company "they don't have the type of disclosure we have."

Andres second point was that the FCPA makes illegal paying a bribe and that if companies aren't paying bribes they have nothing to fear.

Sensenbrenner then seemed to pose a question at the end of the hearing as to whether the DOJ would support an FCPA amendment that simply makee bribery (all bribery) illegal (perhaps akin to the UK Bribery Act). Sensenbrenner did not pause for Andres to respond and he (Sensenbrenner) concluded the hearing by saying "it would behoove the DOJ to realize that the statute needs updating." Andres said that the DOJ is "more than willing to work with Congress" to which Sensenbrenner said "see you later we will be drafting a bill."

Sensenbrenner then commented that if Andres were the general counsel of a corporation advising the CEO and everyone else, he would likely be advising the company in the "most narrow way" and "exercising the greatest amount of caution." "As a result," Sensenbrenner stated, legitimate business activity is not pursued and U.S. companies are put in a significant disadvantage compared to foreign companies.

Sensenbrenner then told Andres - "get the message sir and tell that to the AG."

House Hearing - Pregame

Yesterday, Global Financial Integrity ("GFI") and The Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development issued identical press releases (here and here) regarding today's House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the FCPA (see here).

The releases, titled "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Under Attack" portray today's hearing as a U.S. Chamber of Commerce sponsored event and states as follows. "Among other things, the hearing will specifically consider amendments proposed to the act by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which FCPA-proponents charge will significantly weaken the anti-corruption legislation and undermine efforts to tackle corruption and illicit financial practices abroad. The Chamber’s proposed changes would seriously undermine one of the most important anti-corruption statues we have on the books. [...] This is a blatant attempt by the business lobby to limit accountability and reduce a company’s risk of prosecution for paying bribes. It is a real threat to global efforts to stamp out corruption and foster economic development.”

GFI legislative affairs director and legal affairs council Heather Lowe states as follows. “With the exception of [the DOJ witness - Greg Andres], the witness lineup represents commercial interests. There is no witness on the panel representing those who are working to fight corruption without a commercial interest or government policy driving their testimony. Members of Congress need to have an opportunity to hear those voices as well.”

Attached to the releases are two documents.

The first document is titled "Concerns About the U.S. Chamber Institute of Legal Reform’s Proposals for Amending the FCPA." (For a copy of the Chamber's reform proposals - see here).

The document addresses five topics: (i) limiting liability of a parent company for acts of its subsidiaries; (ii) defining "foreign official"; (iii) allowing companies with compliance programs to escape liability (compliance as an affirmative defense); (iv) limiting the liability of a successor company for the prior acts of a company that has merged into it or that it has acquired; and (v) adding a “willfulness” requirement for corporate criminal liability.

As to "foreign official," the document states as follows. "The U.S. Chamber is promoting the creation of a definition of “foreign official” so that companies have greater legal certainty. Greater certainty of what? Greater certainty of who they are permitted to bribe and who they are not permitted to bribe."

In all due respect, this is a naive statement.

As I noted in this article, because of the enforcement agencies' current interpretation of "foreign official," those subject to the FCPA are spending significant time and money investigating the ownership structure of foreign customers and potential customers for any trace of foreign government ownership or control. Such a costly investigation, often involving lawyers and other investigative firms, is not motivated by the company’s desire to make improper payments to the foreign customer or potential customer to obtain or retain business should the investigation reveal no foreign government ownership or control. Rather, the costly investigation is often motivated for the simple reason that the company wants to treat these foreign customers the same as it treats its other customers. That means hosting such customers at corporate events in which some fun may take place (e.g., golf) or inviting such customers to an industry trade show—events that often take place in tourist locations. Companies fear providing such “things of value” to a “foreign official” (under the enforcement agencies’ interpretation) even though the company is legitimately and legally providing the exact same thing to its non- “foreign official” customers or potential customers. It is highly questionable whether Congress foresaw company lawyers being involved in the simple decision of whether to invite a particular customer to the company’s golf outing or trade show.

As to a potential compliance defense, the document states as follows. "If a company is found to be in violation of the FCPA, then the existence of a company’s compliance program must not have prevented the acts of bribery. So why should the existence of their compliance program be a defense to the charge of bribery?"

Again, an unsophisticated statement.

For instance, the U.K. Bribery Act Guidance (here) states as follows. "The objective of the Act is not to bring the full force of the criminal law to bear upon well run commercial organizations that experience an isolated incident of bribery on their behalf."

"[N]o bribery prevention regime will be capable of preventing bribery at all times."

"[A] commercial organization will have a full defense if it can show that despite a particular case of bribery, it nevertheless had adequate procedures in place to prevent persons associated with it from bribing."

Similarly, in a 1981 FCPA speech (to be profiled in a future post) the SEC Chairman noted as follows. “The test of a company’s internal control system is not whether occasional failings can occur. Those will happen in the most ideally managed company. But, an adequate system of internal controls means that, when such breaches do arise, they will be isolated rather than systemic, and they will be subject to a reasonable likelihood of being uncovered in a timely manner and then remedied promptly. Barring, of course, the participation or complicity of senior company officials in the deed, when discovery and correction expeditiously follow, no failing in the company’s internal accounting system would have existed. To the contrary, routine discovery and correction would evidence its effectiveness.”

Elsewhere in the speech, the SEC Chairman stated as follows. "If a violation was committed by a low level employee, without the knowledge of top management, with an adequate system of internal control, and with appropriate corrective action taken by the issuer, we do not believe that any action against the company would be called for.”

This speech was given during the same general time frame when Congress was last seriously considering substantial FCPA reform in the 1980's. Numerous FCPA reform bills included a specific defense which stated a company would not be held vicariously liable for a violation of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions by its employees or agents, who were not an officer or director, if the company established procedures reasonably designed to prevent and detect FCPA violations by employees and agents. An FCPA reform bill containing such a provision did pass the U.S. House.

In my forthcoming scholarship, "Revisiting an FCPA Compliance Defense" (to be presented at the Wisconsin Law Review symposium - see here), I argue that amending the FCPA to include a compliance defense (a defense found in the “FCPA-like” laws of other nations) will best incentivize corporate FCPA compliance and not put a company at risk of FCPA scrutiny, costly FCPA internal investigations, and the growing collateral consequences of FCPA inquiries should a non-executive employee engage in conduct contrary to a company’s pre-existing FCPA compliance policies and procedures and compliance culture.

The second document attached to the GFI releases is titled "The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Context." The 2 page document ends with the following in red caps. "WE HAVE SHOWN THE WORLD THAT THE U.S. IS SERIOUS ABOUT COMBATING BRIBERY, AND THE WORLD IS FOLLOWING OUR LEAD. WEAKENING THE FCPA NOW WILL SEND A MESSAGE TO THE WORLD THAT THE U.S. IS SOFT ON CORRUPTION AND OUR COMPANIES ARE DEEP POCKETS FOR BRIBE-SEEKERS. THE U.S. SHOULD FOCUS ON ENCOURAGING WORLDWIDE ENFORCEMENT, NOT CRIPPLING A STATUTE THAT HAS BEEN THE MODEL FOR INTERNATIONAL ANTI-BRIBERY LEGISLATION."

Enjoy today's hearing.

Johnson & Johnson's "Enhanced Compliance Obligations"

Last month, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) settled an FCPA enforcement action focused on voluntary disclosed conduct in Greece, Poland, Romania involving various health care providers. See here for the prior post. [The enforcement action also involved conduct in connection with the U.N. Oil for Food Program in Iraq - conduct that was not voluntarily disclosed].

The enforcement action was resolved via a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and in the DPA (here) the DOJ specifically states as follows: "J&J had a pre-existing compliance and ethics program that was effective and the majority of problematic operations globally resulted from insufficient implementation of the J&J compliance and ethics program in acquired companies." (emphasis added).

The J&J enforcement action is thus a rare instance of the DOJ finding a company's pre-existing compliance and ethics program "effective" notwithstanding the fact that conduct allegedly violating the FCPA took place within the overall organization.

The J&J DPA contains the standard compliance metrics found in typical DPAs and non-prosecution agreements (Attachment C of the J&J DPA) that the company must abide by during the three year term of the DPA.

However, the DPA also contains (see Attachment D) "Enhanced Compliance Obligations" that J&J must abide by during the term of the DPA. These "enhanced compliance obligations" are unusual and surprising given the DOJ's conclusion that J&J already generally had "effective" policies and procedures.

Even though the DPA states that J&J, as part of the voluntary disclosure and cooperation process, "conducted an extensive, global review of all of its operations to determine if there were problems elsewhere and [...] reported on any area of concerns to the Department and the SEC," the "enhanced compliance obligations" nevertheless require J&J to "conduct risk assessments of markets where J&J has government customers and/or other anticorruption compliance risks on a staggered, periodic basis."

In what seems like a "full employment act" for some, the DPA requires J&J to "identify no less than five operating companies that are high risk for corruption because of their sector and location and [...] conduct FCPA Audits of those operating companies at least once every three years." According to the DPA, "FCPA Audits of other operating companies that pose corruption risk shall occur no less than once every five years."

Pursuant to the DPA, "each FCPA Audit shall include" the following.

"a. On-site visits by an audit team comprised of qualified auditors who have received FCPA and anticorruption training;

b. Where appropriate, participation in the on-site visits by personnel from the compliance and legal functions;

c. Review of a statistically representative sample appropriately adjusted for the risks of the market, of contracts with and payments to individual health care providers;

d. Creation of action plans resulting from issues identified during audits; these action plans will be shared with appropriate senior management, including the Chief Compliance Officer, and will contain mandatory undertakings designed to enhance anticorruption compliance, repair process weaknesses, and deter violations; and

e. Where appropriate, feasible, and permissible under local law, review of the books and records of distributors which, in the view of the audit team, may present corruption risk."

Such "enhanced compliance obligations" seem wholly inappropriate given the DOJ's conclusion that J&J already had "effective" compliance policies and procedures and given that J&J, prior to resolving the enforcement action, already "conducted an extensive, global review of all of its operations to determine if there were problems elsewhere...".

Remediation and effective compliance policies and procedures are good.

But if the "enhanced compliance obligations" found in the J&J DPA are a new norm, how long will corporate defendants tolerate being required by the government (under the risk of prosecution for failure to do so) to engage in fishing expeditions (when the company already went fishing) just for the sake of going fishing again?

Financial Reform Bill Contains Major Compliance Headache

News coverage today will be extensive as to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - the financial reform bill - that is expected to be signed by President Obama next week.

But you probably will not see much coverage as to a key "miscellaneous provision" tacked onto the end of the massive bill.

However, to many readers of this blog, this key "miscellaneous provision" is sure to cause much angst - as well it should. And no, I am not talking about the whistleblower provisions included in the financial reform bill that can reward a whistleblower who reports securities laws violations, a provision some are calling the FCPA Whistleblower Bounty Program (see here), even though the provisions are not specific to the FCPA. I will cover these provisions in a future post.

The "miscellaneous provision" is Section 1504.

It is titled "Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers" and it is substantively similar to S.1700, a bad bill that was introduced in the Senate in September 2009. I covered this bill, and its many problems, in this prior post.

As I noted in the prior post, bribery and corruption are bad, but that does not mean that every attempt to curtail bribery and corruption is good.

Case in point is Section 1504 of the financial reform bill.

In short, Section 1504 will substantially increase compliance costs and headaches for numerous companies that already have extensive FCPA compliance policies and procedures by further requiring disclosure of perfectly legal and legitimate payments to foreign governments. Section 1504 is akin to “swatting a fly with a bazooka" and it attempts to legislate an issue that was sensibly put to rest in the mid-1970's when Congress held extensive hearings on what would become the FCPA.

Section 1504 amends Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 USC 78m) (“Periodical and Other Reports”) by adding a new section “Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers.”

Under this section, "no later than 270 days after enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the [SEC] shall issue final rules that would require:

• a “Resource Extraction Issuer” (a defined term which means an issuer that:(i) is required to file an annual report with the Commission; and (ii) engages in the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals”)

• to include in its annual report

• “information relating to any payment”

• made by the issuer, “a subsidiary” of the issuer, “or any entity under the control of the issuer”

• to a “foreign government” (a defined term which means a “foreign government, a department, agency, or instrumentality of a foreign government, or a company owned by a foreign government, as determined by the Commission”) or the "Federal Government"

• for “the purpose of the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals.”

Although it is possible that the final SEC rules may shed more light on the above provisions, at this point not much about Section 1504 is clear.

Therein lies the problem.

Not sure, if your company is a “Resource Extraction Issuer” because you are unclear what “commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals” means?

No problem, Section 1504 provides this crystal clear definition – “the term ‘commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals’ includes exploration, extraction, processing, export and other significant actions relating to oil, natural gas, or minerals, or the acquisition of a license for any such activity, as determined by the [SEC]. “

In other words, if you are an issuer, and you engage in “significant actions relating to oil, natural gas, or minerals” you just may have some huge, new reporting / disclosure requirements imposed on you!

Still confused? Join the club.

Is selling equipment to a core resource extraction company, which is then used to explore for oil, natural gas, or minerals a “significant action relating to oil, natural gas, or minerals?” Is selling exploration software to a core resource extraction company, which is then used to explore for oil, natural gas, or minerals a “significant action relating to oil, natural gas, or minerals?”

What is a payment?

That’s an easy one and Section 1504 provides this crystal clear definition – the term payment means:

(i) a payment that is (I) made to further commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals; and (II) not de minimis; and

(ii) includes taxes, royalties, fees (including license fees), production entitlements, bonuses, and other material benefits, that the Commission [...] determines are part of the commonly recognized revenue stream for the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals."

Ignoring for the moment the imperfect and imprecise definition of “Resource Extraction Issuer,” it is one thing to require such issuers to disclose royalties paid to a foreign government, and if that is viewed as providing transparency and eliminating bribery and corruption (however dubious that view may be), well then perhaps Section 1504 is a good piece of legislation.

But Section 1504 seeks disclosure and reporting of much, much more and could conceivably require disclosure of every single dollar a “Resource Extraction Issuer” makes to a "foreign government, a department, agency, or instrumentality of a foreign government, or a company owned by a foreign government, as determined by the Commission" for the "purpose of the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals."

Here is the real kicker though.

Section 1504 requires all payments (meeting the above definitions – if indeed you can figure out what those definitions are) to be disclosed, including perfectly legitimate and legal payments.

To those who supported Section 1504, I've got this to say - "we’ve been down this road before."

It is called the FCPA (and the various versions of the statute before it was enacted). Years of congressional hearings were had as to this very same disclosure issue and we don’t need to repeat this exercise.

Here is some background.

The FCPA as enacted in 1977 contained (and still contains) an outright prohibition on improper payments to "foreign officials" to obtain or retain business (the anti-bribery provisions) as well as books and records and internal control provisions – but not disclosure provisions.

The original versions of what became the “FCPA” (i.e. the “Foreign Payments Disclosure Act” and other similar bills) started out with disclosure provisions, including provisions requiring all U.S. companies to disclose all payments over $1,000 to any foreign agent or consultant and any and all other payments made in connection with foreign government business.

As to these disclosure provisions, many people, including, most notably Senator Proxmire (D-WI - a Congressional leader on what would become the FCPA), were concerned that the disclosure obligations were too vague to enforce and would require the disclosure of thousands of payments that were perfectly legal and legitimate.

Proxmire said during congressional hearings, “I would think they [the corporations subject to the disclosure requirements] would want some certainty. They want to know what they have to report and what they don’t have to report. They don’t want to guess and then find themselves in deep trouble because they guessed wrong.”

The final House Report (see here) on what would become the FCPA is even more clear. It states (when discussing the various disclosure provisions previously debated, but rejected):

"Most disclosure proposals would require U.S. corporations doing business abroad to report all foreign payments including perfectly legal payments such as for promotional purposes and for sales commissions. A disclosure scheme, unlike outright prohibition, would require U.S. corporations to contend not only with an additional bureaucratic overlay but also with massive paperwork requirements."

The words of the late Senator Proxmire and the sensible conclusion reflected in the House Report are equally applicable to Section 1504.

Section 1504 (while however noble its intended purpose) is akin to “swatting a fly with a bazooka.”

The FCPA already criminalizes improper payments made to the “foreign government” recipients targeted in Section 1504 to the extent those payments are made to “obtain or retain business.”

Do we really now need a law that requires “Resource Extraction Issuers” to disclose all such payments, even perfectly legitimate and legal payments?

In passing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Congress apparently said yes to this question. However, with any bill of this magnitude, it is likely that certain members of Congress did not even know what they were voting for or, if they did, were willing to accept undesirable "miscellaneous provisions" to ensure overall passage. In fact, what is now Section 1504 never made it "out of committee" since being introduced in September 2009. A similar bill was also introduced in 2008, but likewise went nowhere.

That is all water under the bridge as they say, because Section 1504 is likely soon to become law.

DOJ Speaks

There is a "same speech, different day" aspect of late when the DOJ talks about the FCPA. One can reasonably predict what will be said (i.e. DOJ values voluntary disclosure and cooperation), even before it is said, and this has the tendency of diminishing the message.

This week it was Compliance Week 2010 (see here). The speaker's - Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler and Assistant Attorney General (Criminal Division) Lanny Breuer.

*****

On Tuesday, Grindler spoke (see here for his remarks).

Grindler began his remarks as follows:

"Having spent a good portion of my career in private practice representing corporate clients and advising them on compliance matters, I am no stranger to what I suspect many of you in the audience are thinking: What is the Department of Justice focused on and how can I make sure my clients stay as far away from it as possible? I’d like to spend my time with you this evening hopefully answering the first question by giving you a sense of some of the policy and enforcement priorities that we are focused on at the Department and sharing some of my thoughts how you can best position your clients when interacting with the Department."

Grindler's remarks covered three general topics: DOJ's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, DOJ's efforts to combat health care fraud, and the DOJ's new Intellectual Property Enforcement Task Force.

While speaking on health care fraud, Grindler noted:

"You can be assured that we will also use every tool at our disposal to investigate and prosecute corrupt practices in the pharmaceutical industry. In the months ahead, for example, you can expect to see the Department increasingly use the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to prosecute kickbacks and bribes paid to foreign government officials by pharmaceutical companies. As the drug companies do more and more of their business overseas where so much of the health care business is government run, we see the opportunities for FCPA violations unfortunately proliferating. Indeed, in some foreign countries nearly every aspect of the approval, manufacture, import, export, pricing, sale and marketing of a drug product may involve a “foreign official” within the meaning of the FCPA. The extent of government involvement in foreign health systems, combined with fierce industry competition and the closed nature of many public formularies, creates, in our view, a significant risk that corrupt payments will infect the process. The Department will not hesitate to charge pharmaceutical companies and their senior executives under the FCPA if warranted to root out foreign bribery in the industry."

For the same speech, different day version, see here and here.

The final part of Grindler's speech is titlted - "What You Can Do." Excerpted portions are below.

"Now, how can you best advise your clients in light of the Department’s enforcement priorities and given the climate we are in where there is so much distrust of corporate America."

"First, you can make sure that your clients have robust, effective compliance programs and internal controls. A company’s compliance program continues to be one of the most important factors that we consider under the Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations. You are on the front lines of this issue and can make a real difference in your respective institutions by sending the message about the need for an effective compliance program. Compliance programs must not exist only on paper."

"In this context, I want to point out that the United States Sentencing Commission recently amended the Sentencing Guidelines on the issue of compliance programs. Specifically, the Commission clarified the importance of assessing and modifying compliance programs after you discover criminal conduct at your company. The current Guidelines provide that, following the discovery of criminal conduct, a company should, among other things, make “any necessary modifications to the organization's compliance and ethics program.” The new amendment -- assuming it goes into effect in November -- provides a new commentary to that provision specifying that this post-violation process includes “assessing the compliance and ethics program and making modifications necessary to ensure the program is effective … and may include the use of an outside professional advisor to ensure adequate assessment and implementation of any modifications.”

"In addition, the latest Guideline amendments clarify the circumstances under which an effective compliance and ethics program can entitle an organization to a 3-level reduction in its culpability score. Specifically, the amendment allows an organization to receive the decrease if the organization meets four criteria: (1) the individual or individuals with operational responsibility for the compliance and ethics program have direct reporting obligations to the organization’s governing authority or appropriate subgroup thereof; (2) the compliance and ethics program detected the offense before discovery outside the organization or before such discovery was reasonably likely; (3) the organization promptly reported the offense to the appropriate governmental authorities; and (4) no individual with operational responsibility for the compliance and ethics program participated in, condoned, or was willfully ignorant of the offense. These amendments reinforce the point that having a robust compliance program is critical not only to preventing misconduct in the first place, but also how your organization will be treated in the event criminal conduct does take place."

"The second thing you can do to best position your client, is you can partner with us. As I hope has been clear in my discussion of our enforcement efforts, there is a consistent theme of the importance of sharing information and partnering with the private sector in its anti-fraud efforts. Through examples like the National Heath Care Fraud Summit and the regional mortgage fraud summits, we have been reaching out to private sector anti-fraud professionals to share information about fraud schemes and improvements in data analysis. While we have limitations in what we can share, we are interested in exploring ways to work together within those constraints. If the private sector sees new fraud schemes or ways in which we can prevent fraud, that is something you should share with us."

"Third, you can advise your clients to make early, voluntary disclosure of misconduct. As you know, it is usually in your client’s best interest to cooperate with the government’s investigation through the disclosure of relevant facts, the production of documents and other evidence, and making witnesses available who have relevant information."

"Fourth, you can guide your client’s decision to take meaningful remedial measures in response to criminal wrongdoing, including the payment of restitution and the disciplining or termination of culpable employees, officers, or directors."

"In the end, all of these steps – robust compliance programs, information sharing between public and private sector anti-fraud efforts, voluntary disclosure, and meaningful remedial measures -- will inure to the benefit of your clients in several significant ways. They will deter criminal conduct from occurring in the first place. They will ensure that if and when misconduct does occur, it is detected early on and can be rooted out before too much damage is done. Your client will receive credit for such actions during the prosecutorial decision-making process. Finally, such steps will make your clients stronger corporate citizens, and will empower your clients’ officers, directors, and employees to fulfill their fiduciary obligations to shareholders and their duties of honest dealing to the investing public and the taxpayers."

For more on Grindler's speech, including topics raised during the Q&A, see this piece from Christopher Matthews at Main Justice.

*****

On Wednesday, Breuer spoke (see here for a copy of his remarks). Below are various excerpts from the speech.

Given the DOJ's recent "bribery, yet no bribery" cases against BAE and Daimler, I must admit to getting a bit frazzled after only paragraph two of the speech in which Breuer talks about the "the Justice Department’s determination to prosecute – and prosecute aggressively – financial fraud and corruption in all its forms. The American public demands no less, and we will deliver no less."

Speaking generally, Breuer described "a new era of heightened white-collar crime enforcement – an era marked by increased resources, increased information-sharing, increased cooperation and coordination, and tough penalties for corporations and individuals alike."

Breuer next discussed that "additional resources are also being committed in the Criminal Division, where we are in the process of adding a number of attorneys to the Fraud Section – lawyers who will be deployed immediately to prosecute crimes like securities fraud, health care fraud, and foreign bribery under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act." He cited the Africa Sting case as an example of using "more aggressive law enforcement techniques" and further stated that "it is fair to say that [DOJ] will continue to look for opportunities to innovate in how we identify financial fraud and corruption."

Speaking of innovation at the SEC, Breuer stated:

"The SEC will now make use of cooperation agreements, as well as deferred and non-prosecution agreements – all of which have been staples of the Justice Department’s approach in white collar criminal cases for many years now. These innovations will likely lead to even earlier and closer coordination between the SEC and the Justice Department."

Breuer next talked specifically about foreign bribery "which obviously is at the center of this heightened enforcement climate and which presents unique compliance challenges."

Below are his remarks.

"As I have said in the past, foreign bribery is a law enforcement challenge of truly global dimensions. It is, as the Attorney General has said, a 'scourge on civil society.' We in the Criminal Division combat foreign bribery each and every day. And as we go about our business, we are looking carefully at lapses in corporate compliance. Why? Because of what I said a few minutes ago. Our preference, like yours, is for these crimes to be prevented in the first instance. And the only way that can happen in your organizations is through a robust, state-of-the-art compliance program and a true culture of compliance."

"I know that you all do not lack for incentives; the statistics in FCPA enforcement are well known. But it is worth pausing on them for a moment."

"Since 2004, the Fraud Section has achieved 37 corporate FCPA and foreign bribery related resolutions, with fines totaling over $1.5 billion. In this time period, we have charged 81 individuals with FCPA violations and related offenses. Forty-six have been charged since the start of 2009 – more than the total number of individuals charged in the previous seven years combined."

"The individuals charged have included CEOs, CFOs, other senior-level corporate officials and, where jurisdiction existed here, several foreign officials. Charging individuals is part of a deliberate enforcement strategy to deter and prevent corrupt corporate conduct before it happens. And rest assured that we will seek equally tough sentences, including significant jail time if appropriate, to reinforce this message of deterrence."

"Aggressive enforcement by the Criminal Division provides one set of incentives for corporations. Others are sprouting up each and every day, and they are coming from all corners as anti-fraud and corruption enforcement catches up with the globalization of business."

"Here in the United States, the United States Sentencing Commission recently approved amendments to its Sentencing Guidelines, one of which reaffirmed the importance of compliance and ethics programs within organizations. The amendment stressed the critical need to embed these programs at the very highest level of the organization. In an interesting twist, the Commission expanded eligibility for effective compliance and ethics program credit at sentencing even if one or more members of 'high level personnel' has some role in the offense."

"But there’s a catch. In order to be eligible for credit where there is such 'high level' involvement, the corporation must have in place a direct reporting relationship between the individual with operational responsibility for the compliance program and the corporation’s governing body. And more than that, the corporation must have discovered the offense and reported it to enforcement officials before it otherwise became known. The amendment has not been uncontroversial. But whatever your opinion, it can at least be said that the amendment reflects the Commission’s view that compliance should be embedded at the very highest levels of an organization."

"On the international front, the United Kingdom has passed a new, comprehensive Bribery Act that criminalizes, among other things, the failure by a corporate entity to prevent bribery. Pretty serious, right? Well, the Act does provide a defense to such a charge if the corporate entity can show that it has 'adequate procedures' in place to deter and detect such conduct. What does 'adequate procedures' mean? It’s not entirely clear. And I’m, of course, not your lawyer. But, at a minimum, it would seem prudent to have in place a strong, state-of-the-art compliance program."

Breuer then offers a few thoughts on compliance and offers up the Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations (see here) and the OECD’s Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics, and Compliance (see here - Annex II) as benchmarks.

Breuer then acknowledges that "even the best compliance program may not stop fraud or corruption from occurring. So, what should a corporation do when a problem has been discovered?"

Because the answer has been stated numerous, numerous times, you probably already known the answer - voluntarily disclose and cooperate.

Below are Breuer's comments on these issues:

"Whether to voluntarily disclose potential criminality is admittedly a difficult question for business entities."

"But I can offer you this: If you come forward and if you fully cooperate with our investigation, you will receive meaningful credit for having done so. In talking about 'meaningful' credit, we are not promising amnesty for doing the right thing. But, self-reporting and cooperation carry significant incentives – by working with the Department, no charges may be brought at all, or we may agree to a deferred prosecution agreement or non-prosecution agreement, sentencing credit, or a below-Guidelines fine. Ultimately, every case is fact-specific and requires an assessment of the facts and circumstances, as well as the severity and pervasiveness of the conduct and the quality of the corporation’s pre-existing compliance program. But, in every case of self-disclosure, full cooperation, and remediation, the Department is committed to giving meaningful credit where it’s deserved to obtain a fair and just resolution."

"The Siemens matter is a case in point. While the conduct in that case is arguably the most egregious example of systemic foreign corruption ever prosecuted by the Department, [Note - Siemens was not charged with violating the FCPA's anti-bribery provisions] it also illustrates the tremendous benefits that flow from truly extraordinary cooperation. By Siemens opening itself up to authorities, [Note - Siemens did this after its offices were raided by German authorities] the Department completed its investigation and resolved the case – with domestic and international dimensions – in two years’ time. In the end, the benefits Siemens received through its cooperation, even in the absence of a voluntary disclosure, were plain – the $450 million fine that was paid to the Justice Department, although quite substantial, was a far cry from the advisory range of $1.35 billion to $2.7 billion called for in the Sentencing Guidelines. Put another way, Siemens received a penalty that was 67 to 84 percent less than what it otherwise could have faced had it not provided extraordinary cooperation and carried out such extensive remediation."

"Another example, on a more modest scale, was the resolution of the Helmerich & Payne matter, a company that self-disclosed improper or questionable payments. [Note - is Breuer acknowledging that the payments at issue in this case - payments to various officials and representatives of the Argentine and Venezuelan customs services in connection with importation and exportation of goods and equipment - may not have violated the FCPA? See here for more] The case was resolved through a non-prosecution agreement with a term of two years, a penalty of $1 million (which was approximately 30 percent below the bottom of the Guidelines range), and compliance self-reporting by the company for a period of two years in lieu of an independent compliance monitor. Because of the forward-leaning, proactive, and highly cooperative approach taken by Helmerich & Payne, that company received a host of benefits that likely would not otherwise have been obtained from the Department."

"In short, these two cases, and others like them, reflect the Department’s willingness to step up to the plate when a corporation does the right thing by making a voluntary disclosure and cooperating fully."

"Let me offer one additional piece of guidance on this topic. When a problem has been discovered, the corporation should seriously consider seeking the government’s input on the front end of its internal investigation. [Note - at the front end of an FCPA internal investigation, it is generally not even known if a violation has occurred - why should a company seek the DOJ's input when it is not yet known if a violation of law has occurred?] We encourage a company to come in and describe its work plan for conducting the investigation. Often we have questions, or helpful suggestions, or we may ask that the corporation expand the scope of the investigation. Regardless, the dialogue can be very helpful in ensuring at the outset that the corporation has an effective, cost-effective plan in place to investigate and deal with the problem."

Breuer then offered a few words about compliance monitors.

Below are his comments.

"In resolving criminal conduct, the Department’s goal is to vindicate the law and ensure adherence to it in both letter and spirit. In that regard, the structure and terms of a corporate resolution are properly determined by the particular facts of the case and the circumstances surrounding the specific business entity and the public interest. Thus, a compliance monitor may be particularly useful where the agreement requires the corporation to design, or substantially re-design, and implement a broad compliance and ethics program and internal controls. As an independent observer, the monitor can enable the government to verify whether a business is fulfilling the obligations to which it agreed. In other cases, however, a compliance monitor may not be needed for a variety of reasons, such as where the business organization has ceased operations in the area where the criminal conduct occurred, or where the business has re-designed and effectively implemented appropriate compliance measures and internal controls before entering into an agreement with the United States."

"However the calculus plays out, we are always mindful of, and we do weigh, the potential benefits of employing a monitor with the cost of a compliance monitor and its impact on the operations of the business organization. Of that much you can be sure."

For more on Breuer's speech, including topics raised during the Q&A, see this piece from Christopher Matthews at Main Justice.

*****

A good holiday weekend to all - please check back on Tuesday for a post about a current FCPA compliance monitor.

Benchmarking FCPA Compliance

The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development ("OECD") recently released (see here) "the most comprehensive guidance ever provided to companies and business organizations by an international organization" on internal controls, ethics and compliance programs to combat bribery.

Mark Mendelsohn, the DOJ's current FCPA "top cop" was recently quoted (see here) as saying that the new OECD guidance has the "endorsement of the U.S. government."

Thus, those subject to the FCPA would be wise to take notice.

The OECD guidance, "Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics and Compliance" is included as Annex II in the "Recommendation of the Council for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (see here). The guidance is "intended to serve as non-legally binding guidance to companies in establishing effective internal controls, ethics, and compliance programs or measures for preventing and detecting foreign bribery."

Substantively, the new OECD guidance is similar to the effective elements of an FCPA compliance program the DOJ frequently includes in its FCPA resolution documents (see here) as well as the elements of an "Effective Compliance and Ethics Program" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (see here).

*****

While on the topic of the OECD, it has always intrigued me that the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (see here), on which numerous anti-corruption laws are based, uses the term "foreign public official" rather than the "foreign official" term used by the FCPA.

Is a "foreign public official" the same as a "foreign official?" In most cases, the answer would seem to be yes. However, is an employee of a state-owned or state-controlled enterprise (often a commercial entity with publicly traded stock and other attributes of a commercial enterprise) a "foreign public official?"

We all know the enforcement agencies' view - yes such employees are "foreign officials" under the FCPA.

*****

While still on the topic of the OECD, in light of the BAE bribery, yet no bribery circus (see here for prior posts) it is interesting to review Annex I of the above referenced document titled "Good Practice Guidance on Implementing Specific Articles of the Convention of Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions."

Article 5: Enforcement states - "Member countries should be vigilant in ensuring that investigations and prosecutions of the bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions are not influenced by considerations of national economic interest, the potential effect upon relations with another State or the identity of the natural or legal persons involved, in compliance with Article 5 of the OECD Anti Bribery Convention."

Both the U.S. and U.K. are "member countries."

Potpourri

A Friday roundup of recent FCPA events.

An FCPA Sentencing Trend?

As noted in yesterday's DOJ release (here), two former executives of Willbros International Inc. (a subsidiary of Houston-based Willbros Group Inc.) were sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to make improper payments to "foreign officials" in Nigeria and Ecuador.

Jason Edward Steph was sentenced to 15 months in prison and Jim Bob Brown was sentenced to 366 days in prison.

For more on the Willbros matter, see here and here.

The DOJ's sentencing recommendations appear to be sealed, but one can assume, given the "light" sentences, that perhaps the DOJ likely sought sentences greater than those issued by District Court Judge Simeon Lake.

If so, this would appear to continue a trend of judges sentencing FCPA defendants to prison sentences less than those recommended by DOJ.

For instance, in Frederic Bourke case, a case which involved a "massive bribery scheme" according to DOJ, Judge Shira Scheindin rejected the 10-year prison sentence proposed by DOJ and sentenced Bourke to 366 days in prison. (see here). In sentencing Bourke, Judge Scheindin is reported to have said "after years of supervising this case, it's still not entirely clear to me whether Mr. Bourke is a victim or a crok or a little bit of both."

With several FCPA sentencing dates on the horizon, this apparent trend will be an issue to watch.

See here for local media coverage regarding the sentences.

Kozeny's Tan Not in Jeopardy

While Bourke (see here) prepares his appeal, Viktor Kozeny, the alleged master-mind of the scheme to bribe officials in Azerbaijan in connection with privatization of the state-owned oil company, will be staying put in The Bahamas as an appellate court again rejected DOJ's extradition attempts.

As noted in the recent Bahamian Court of Appeals decision (here), Kozeny, a Czech national, has been living in The Bahamas since 1995 and has not departed the country since 1999.

The opinion notes that there is no dispute "that there was a conspiracy to corrupt the Azeri officials and that such officials were paid money, given gifts and provided shares in certain companies under the control of [Kozeny] without payment; and had certain medical procedures paid for them by [Kozeny].

Even so, the court concluded that while The Bahamas did indeed have a bribery/corruption statute, it applied only to bribes within The Bahamas or given to a Bahamian public officer. Thus, because Kozeny's conduct would not violate Bahamian law, the appellate court upheld the lower court's denial of the extradition request.

For additional coverage (see here and here and here).

According to these reports, the decision may be appealed to London's Privy Council pursuant to Bahamian legal procedure. Kozeny's U.S. lawyer is quoted as saying "enough is enough" and U.S. prosecutors should finally accept the fact that Kozney, a non-U.S. citizen, could not violate the FCPA as it existed in 1998 - the year in which the bribe scheme perhaps ended - although, as noted in the opinion, the U.S. alleges that the bribe scheme continued into 1999.

Why is this relevant?

Because the FCPA was amended in 1998 to include, among other provisions, 78dd-3 which applies the antibribery provisions to "any person" (i.e. foreigners) "while in the territory of the U.S." from making use of the mails or any other means or instrumentality of interstate commerce in furtherance of an improper payment.

The SFO Continues to "Step-It-Up"

Today, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office (the functional equivalent of the DOJ) issued a release (here) indicating that a former BAE agent has been charged with "conspiracy to corrupt" for "conspiring with others to give or agree to give corrupt payments [...] to unknown officials and other agents of certain Eastern and Central European governments, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria as inducements to secure, or as rewards for having secured, contracts from those governments for the supply of goods to them, namely SAAB/Gripen fighter jets, by BAE Systems Plc."

For local media coverage of the charges (see here).

With a new Bribery Bill expected in the U.K. by years end, the SFO continues to "step-it-up" (see here for more on the SFO).

Disclosing FCPA Compliance

Public companies dislose FCPA issues all the time. Rarely though do the disclosures concern issues other than internal investigations and potential enforcement actions.

Accordingly, two recent SEC filings caught my eye.

China MediaExpress Holdings, Inc. (a Delaware company) recently disclosed (here) that it:

"[e]ntered into a securities purchase agreement with Starr Investments Cayman II, Inc. Under this agreement, Starr will, subject to various terms and conditions, purchase from the Company 1,000,000 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and warrants to purchase 1,545,455 shares of the Common Stock of the Company for an aggregate purchase price of US$30,000,000."

One of the conditions was that the company "shall have adopted a program with respect to compliance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" and a post-closing covenant obligates the company to "implement a program regarding compliance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act not later than April 30, 2010."

Cardtronics Inc. (an operator of ATM networks around the world) (here) recently disclosed (here) that:

"On January 25, 2010, the Board of Directors by unanimous vote approved three management proposed modifications to the Company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The modifications as approved by the Board include: (i) adding a section that addressed compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and International Anti-Bribery and Fair Competition Act of 1998."

Costa Rica Joins the Club

Last, but certainly not least, Costa Rica recently announced a first ... the first time a foreign corporation has paid the government damages for corruption.

As noted here, telecom company Alcatel-Lucent recently disclosed a $10 million payment to settle a corruption case in Costa Rica in which it was accused of paying kicbacks to former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez (and others government officials) in return for a 2001 contract worth $149 million.

There has been FCPA/corruption issues on both sides "of the hyphen" as noted here in this recent Main Justice article.

And with that, have a nice weekend.

FCPA Training - "The First Few Minutes"

The A&E Network has a show, "The First 48," that I watch on occasion (see here). The show follows real-life homicide detectives from around the country during the "first 48 hours" of an investigation as they race against time to find the suspect.

Why is the "first 48 hours" so important? Because the chance of solving the case is apparently reduced by approximately 50% if the detectives do not get a lead in the "first 48 hours."

So what in the world does this have to do with FCPA training?

Just as the "first 48 hours" are critical to the success of a homicide investigation, the "first few minutes" are critical to the success of FCPA training.

During those critical "first few minutes" one needs to properly set the tone and engage participants on their level.

If one starts off an FCPA training session like this ... "today I will be talking about a U.S. law that makes it a crime to bribe foreign government officials to get business" - you just lost a good portion of your audience and, regardless of what you say during the rest of the training sesssion, your training session will not be as successful as it could have been.

Crime? Steve in the second row of the audience has a clean record and wouldn't hurt a fly. He coaches his son's soccer team and worships on the weekend. Joe is thinking to himself, "I have never committed a crime and I don't intend to - what does this FCPA training session have to do with me?"

Government? Melissa is in the first row of the audience. Her job function is internal audit and finance. She has absolutely no contact or communication with government officials and is thinking to herself "does this company even do business with foreign governments - what does this FCPA training session have to do with me?"

Business? Francisco, the logistics manager from outside the U.S., has been flown in for the FCPA training session. He is thinking "business - I'm not a sales and marketing guy, I just make sure our product gets into and out of the country and I occasionally help secure various licenses and permits for the company - what does this FCPA training session have to do with me?"

For reasons described in other postings on this blog, FCPA training is indeed relevant to the Steve, Melissa and Francisco's in a company.

To avoid having participants' minds wander during the "first few minutes" of FCPA training, it may be more effective to start off the training session along these lines.

"Today, I will be talking about a U.S. law that applies to all of you - regardless of whether you are in the sales and marketing department, the executive office suite, the finance and audit department, or the logistics department. This law can cover a wide range of payments the company makes, or could make, either directly or indirectly, in doing business or seeking business in foreign markets. Your understanding of this law and how it may relate to your specific job function will best ensure that the company remains compliant with this law and is able to achieve its business objectives."

HP To Channel Partners - You MUST Complete FCPA Training

Engaging a foreign agent, representative, distributor or channel partner (collectively "channel partners") can greatly assist a company in increasing foreign sales. After all, these individuals or entities "know the landscape."

As readers of this blog well know, engaging a foreign channel partner can also be risky business under the FCPA.

In a previous post, I talked about certain minimum elements of an effective FCPA compliance program as typically set forth in DOJ non-prosecution or deferred prosecution agreements (see here).

One of those elements is the "promulgation of a compliance code, standards and procedures designed to reduce the prospect of violations of the FCPA" which "should apply to all directors, officers, and employees and, where necessary and approopriate, outside parties acting on behalf [of a company] in a foreign jurisdiction, including agents, consultants, representatives, distributors, teaming partners, and joint venture partners."

HP has apparently determined that it is necessary and appropriate for its global network of approximately 155,000 channel partners to complete HP's regulatory compliance training program or risk losing their partner status (see here).

A HP spokesperson confirmed that "HP is, in fact, working to have all of its global channel partners undergo training regarding government legal and regulatory compliance [including the FCPA] as part of establishing or renewing their Business Development Agreement" with HP.

Understanding China FCPA Risk

Many thanks to Dan Harris over at China Law Blog for inviting "me over" to share my thoughts on China FCPA risk. My post can be found here.

The Results Are In ...

A couple of survey/poll results that may be of interest to FCPA followers.

The first survey is courtesy of Deloitte which obtained over 1,000 on-line survey responses from business professionals in various industries in connection with a recent webcast titled "Global Anticorruption: Risks and Strategies for Today's Global Enterprise."

Results of interest:

Only 31% of respondents indicated that their company had in place a "comprehensive FCPA compliance program." When asked why some companies might not have a comprehensive FCPA compliance program, 23% of respondents cited an "unawareness of the severity and consequences of FCPA violations." Clearly more people need to read this blog (and others) and follow FCPA news!

Only 32% of respondents indicated that their company addresses FCPA risks "proactively."

Respondents are most nervous about FCPA issues arising from: foreign subsidiaries (35%), agent/consultant relationships (28%) and joint venture/strategic alliances (18%).

And finally, 40% of respondents either said "no" or "don't know" to the question of whether the increased FCPA enforcement activity will deter future FCPA violations. You have to wonder what goes through the minds of Mark Mendelsohn and others at DOJ when they read a response like that?

The second survey (see here to download) was sponsored by Integrity Interactive Corporation and Compliance Week. The survey (which covers a wide range of compliance and ethics topics - not just the FCPA) collected approximately 230 responses from executives at global public companies and large private entities. Pgs. 38-39 of the survey contain FCPA data and indicate that executives are most concerned about payments to third parties, followed by inappropriate gifts and entertainment, direct bribes, company-financed "business trips" and unlawful political or charitable contributions.

Benchmarking FCPA Compliance

Over at the White Collar Crime Prof Blog (see here), Professor Ellen Podgor has posted her essay titled "Educating Compliance" (see here) in which she argues that the U.S. government should more actively participate in "promoting compliance with the law."

In discussing some examples of where the government does pro-actively educate compliance with the law, Profesor Podgor refers to the DOJ's Lay-Person's Guide to the FCPA (see here) and the DOJ's Opinion Procedure Regulations (see here).

While perhaps lacking the "pro-active" label Professor Podgor advocates, an additional resource for companies seeking guidance on FCPA "best practices" is the actual FCPA non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements themselves. More often than that, these agreements will contain an appendix that contains the minimum elements of an FCPA compliance program that the DOJ has "signed off on" as part of the settlement process.

Reviewing these agreements, one will find, virtually verbatim, the same elements. For instance, see the Novo Nordisk agreement (here - pgs. 19-21), the Fiat agreement (here pgs. 34-36) and the Faro Technologies agreement (here pgs. 14-16).

While these minimum elements are not the "be-all and end-all" of FCPA compliance, and while any FCPA corporate compliance policy should be specifically calibrated to a company's risk profile, these elements consistently included by DOJ in resolution agreements are certainly a good initial benchmark for any company's FCPA compliance policies and procedures.