In the case of BNY Mellon, it was an illegal bribe in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged BNY Mellon that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by providing internships to family members of foreign government officials affiliated with a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund. The unnamed … Read more »
Category: Bribery and Corruption
What is an “Instrumentality” under the FCPA?
If your are trying to figure out whether a company is a private company or an “instrumentality” of a foreign government under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act you are already in trouble. To reach that point in the FCPA analysis you’ve already paid a bribe, or are thinking of paying a bribe. (If you’re just … Read more »
Best Practices Under the FCPA and Bribery Act
Tom Fox is prolific writer on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He publishes the excellent FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog. One of the downsides to a blog is that it’s a running commentary and not a narrative guide. Blogs are great for sharing ideas among practitioners. But a blog does not come together as a … Read more »
Pay to Play and the Supreme Court
The US Supreme Court struck down some campaign finance limitations in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. My first question was whether this court ruling would impact the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Rule 206(4)-5. The answer is “no.” Mr. McCutcheon wanted to contribute $1776 dollars to a long list of political candidates. Each individual contribution is … Read more »
Follow-Up Purchase of a Business from a Foreign Official
There are obstacles when trying to buy a business from a foreign official. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits giving or offering anything of value to any foreign official with a corrupt intent to assist in obtaining or retaining business. It is not a flat prohibition on business relationships. But all of the recent FCPA … Read more »
Where the Bribes Are
The James Mintz Group has updated the firm’s infographic of Where the Bribes Are. In addition to the electronic-interactive version, the firm produced a .pdf FCPA Map – Update as of Feb 2013. Previously: FCPA Visualization Read more »
Sometimes It Pays to Be Corrupt
Maxim Mironov of the IE Business School in Spain, has some research showing that corruption can lead to success. At least it appears to be successful in Russia. Mironov devised a method for measuring a Muscovite’s “propensity to corrupt” using data on traffic accidents and traffic violations from 1997 to 2007. He then used this … Read more »
The New Resource Guide to the FCPA
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice jointly released A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (.pdf). The 120-page guide provides a detailed analysis of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and closely examines the SEC and DOJ approach to FCPA enforcement. The guide addresses a wide variety of … Read more »
Adoption and the FCPA
The latest Opinion Procedure Release from the Department of Justice comes from a group of non-profit adoption agencies. Based on the stories I’ve heard from friends who have adopted from overseas, I’m not surprised that adoption agencies are concerned about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Opinion Release No. 12-02 is focused on an event hosted … Read more »
Royalty Is Not Always a Foreign Official
I’m not quite sure how royalty works in various parts of the world. From the latest FCPA Opinion release, the parties to a business deal also did not fully understand. The proposed business relationship has some serious red flags so I’m not surprised the parties requested the opinion. According to the release, submission for a … Read more »