The circle is now complete. Beginning with the Yates Memo last September to the metrics laid out by Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell in November through to the comments by the new Justice Department Compliance Counsel Hui Chen in December, all culminating in the announcement of the Justice Department Pilot Program in March—enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has taken a dramatic turn. And, the results from three recent enforcement actions demonstrate that if companies follow the requisites of the Pilot Program, they will sustain real and tangible benefits for their FCPA violations.
It all began with the Yates Memo, which mandated that companies self-disclose and turn over information on individuals who may have been complicit in conduct that violated the FCPA. While many commentators placed new emphasis on individuals, most missed the additional key factor of early self-disclosure. The result, noted U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in a May speech at a white-collar crime conference hosted by the New York City Bar Association, is that companies are self-disclosing even before their investigations are complete to present factual evidence to the Justice Department.
