The second phase in the third-party risk management process is the questionnaire. The term “questionnaire” is mentioned several times in the 2012 FCPA Guidance. It is generally recognized as one of the tools that a company should complete in its investigation to better understand with whom it is doing business. The questionnaire should be a mandatory step for any third party, and if a third party does not want to fill out the questionnaire or will not fill it out completely, you should not walk, but run away from doing business with such a party.
In 2011, the U.K. Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ), discussion of the Six Principals of an Adequate Procedures compliance program noted that a questionnaire, “means that both the business person who desires the relationship and the foreign business representative commit certain designated information in writing prior to beginning the due diligence process.”
