This past year, which marked the 40th anniversary of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, saw significant anti-corruption developments in the United States and abroad, capped by the announcement of a new FCPA corporate enforcement policy by the U.S. Department of Justice. As the year began with a new administration, however, there was initially some uncertainty as to how much the new administration would prioritize FCPA enforcement. Perhaps wanting to put this concern to rest, President Trump’s appointees quickly emphasized that FCPA enforcement was “as alive as ever” with Attorney General Jeff Sessions promising that the DOJ would “continue to strongly enforce the FCPA and other anti-corruption laws.” While there were fewer total FCPA corporate resolutions in 2017 than in 2016, the DOJ concluded two of the largest global settlements in FCPA history this year. The DOJ also demonstrated a continued and expanded focus on anti-corruption compliance, aided by its issuance in February of new guidance on how the DOJ would evaluate the effectiveness of compliance programs.
This memo examines some of these key FCPA developments in greater detail and provides our analysis of what their impact may be in 2018.
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