Last week the Justice Department announced the culmination of several ongoing initiatives into a new pilot program around Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement. Meanwhile, the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division of the Department released a written document, entitled “The Fraud Section’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement Plan and Guidance,” more fully laying out the specifics of this pilot program and providing more background and information for the compliance practitioner.
The Press Conference and the Guidance make clear that in the FCPA world, when the Justice Department talks, chief compliance officers should listen. The upshot is the Justice Department wants more self-disclosure from companies regarding FCPA violations and is willing to provide greater benefits to companies which (1) self-disclose; (2) fully cooperate during the investigation and (3) fully remediate their compliance program going forward. They also want companies to turn over more information on culpable individuals.
