Federal regulators have finally published their long-awaited guidance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: a 120-page compendium of cases, explanations, recommendations and other observations about the law. The guidance does not seem to offer any clear affirmative defenses for FCPA violations, as many had hoped, but it’s bound to give compliance officers bed-time reading for weeks. Compliance Week will have more throughout the day.
Published jointly by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the guidance—“A Resource Guide to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act”—dwells on topics such as exactly who qualifies as a foreign official under the FCPA; what constitutes a permissible gift rather than a bribe; the features of an effective anti-corruption compliance program; and the various resolutions a company can reach if it stumbles into FCPA trouble with regulators. The document is by far the most comprehensive statement about the FCPA that the government has produced in the law’s 35-year history.
