Image: FIFA isn’t the only major sporting organization with corruption problems. The United States Tennis Association has created a problem for itself by allowing an umpire, who was suspended for corruption, to continue to officiate at the 2015 U.S. Open. Inside, CW’s corruption blogger Tom Fox examines USTA’s reasoning behind such a move. Fault, indeed.
Tom Fox
Thomas Fox has practiced law for over 40 years. Tom writes the daily award-winning blog, the FCPA Compliance and Ethics blog and founded the Compliance Podcast Network. Tom leads the discussion on AI in compliance through his best-selling book Upping Your Game. He has 38 other books on the use of AI in compliance and business ethics, leadership including the seminal work, The Compliance Handbook, with its 7th edition coming out in 2025. He is the founder of the award-winning Compliance Podcast Network.
LinkedIn: Follow
Posted inFrom the Archive
When are campaign contributions FCPA violations?
A recent article in the Financial Times by Simon Kuper, titled “How to buy a foreign election” reminded me that the FCPA specifically makes illegal more than simply bribing a foreign government official or some employed by a state owned enterprise to secure an improper advantage. The FCPA also makes illegal bribes paid to “any […]
Posted inAnti-Bribery
Justice Department concludes $795M FCPA action against VimpelCom
Image: Dutch telecom giant Vimpelcom will be hit with nearly $800M in fines, penalties, and disgorgement of profits and prejudgment interest from its huge FCPA case where it spent millions to bribe its way into the Uzbekistan marketplace. Tom Fox looks at the details of the Justice Department’s FPCA enforcement action.
Posted inFrom the Archive
Corruption can give you a very bad few days
Title: Corruption can give you a very
You know it is going to be a bad day when you see your company’s name splashed across a BBC investigative report into alleged payment of bribes to secure business contracts. However, your day can get considerably worse when US congressmen, call for the Justice Department to investigate your company for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Posted inAnti-Bribery
€30 million for cup of tea? Good work if you can get it
FCPA blogger Tom Fox looks at an unfolding scandal that involves a murdered Mongolian paramour, a contract for submarines, embattled Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razik, middleman Abdul Razak Baginda, and the most lucrative cup of tea in recent memory.
Posted inFrom the Archive
SciClone Settles with the SEC on FCPA Enforcement Action
Title: SciClone Settles with the SEC As SciClone Pharmaceuticals settles with the SEC for FCPA violations committed by a Chinese subsidiary, Tom Fox considers how the finer points of granting favors to government officials merits greater compliance scrutiny.
Posted inAnti-Bribery
The Greek Culture of Corruption
Envelopes stuffed with cash and entire industries poised to take action against the first sign of whistleblowing are just two of the hallmarks of the endemic corruption that bedevils the entire Greek economy. What can be done when compliance isn’t just absent in a country, but actively avoided as a matter of tradition?
Posted inAnti-Bribery
The SAP and Garcia FCPA Enforcement Actions – The Government Speaks, Are You Listening?
As the SEC concludes its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation into suspected illegal activity by former SAP International Vice President of Global and Strategic Accounts Vicente Garcia for bribery and corruption in sales to certain government officials in Panama, we are seeing some clear signs about where FCPA enforcement will be headed into 2016 and beyond.
Posted inAnti-Bribery
The Swiss Tackle International Corruption
Last week the Swiss government announced that it had found improprieties in the conduct of the Malaysian government’s sovereign wealth fund, 1Malyasia Development Berhad. The problem for the government of Malaysia is that the sovereign wealth fund is headed by the country’s Prime Minister, who had over $700 million deposited in a personal account. If corrupt governments cannot escape scrutiny in this former haven of banking secrecy, it will be a huge step forward. But could it also mean a lateral move for corrupt governments to another known tax haven?
Posted inAnti-Bribery
Treasury Moves to Shine a Light on Real Estate Transactions
Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department said it would begin demanding to know the names of folks behind the shell companies, which ultra-wealthy foreigners use to hide behind multimillion-dollar real estate purchases. Efforts by the U.S. Treasury Department to police more closely large cash purchases of real estate as a method for money laundering are an important step toward combatting terrorism. But more work remains to be done.
