Trial delayed, “foreign official” brain teaser, and scrutiny alert. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Trial Delayed
Previous posts here and here have highlighted the long-drawn out FCPA prosecution of Lawrence Hoskins. As highlighted here, the trial scheduled to begin on September 3rd has been further delayed until October 16th.
Foreign Official Brain Teaser
Given that American Indian tribes have “sovereign status” under U.S. law, does that make tribal members “foreign officials” under the FCPA?
This interesting issue is explored in this piece by Marcus Haggard (Perkins Coie).
Scrutiny Alert
Panama based Avianca Holdings S.A., a company with shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, recently disclosed:
“Internal investigation to determine whether we may have violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other laws
Through its internal processes, Avianca Holdings discovered a business practice whereby company employees, which may include members of senior management, as well as certain members of the board of directors, provided things of value, which as of today Avianca Holdings believes to have been limited to free and discounted airline tickets and upgrades, to government employees in certain countries. Avianca Holdings commenced an internal investigation and retained outside counsel and a forensic investigatory firm to determine whether this practice may have violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) or other potentially applicable U.S. and non-U.S. anti-corruption laws. Additionally, Avianca Holdings implemented policies designed to prevent such practice from occurring in the future. On August 13, 2019, Avianca Holdings voluntarily disclosed this investigation to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, and Avianca Holdings is cooperating with both agencies. On the same date, Avianca Holdings voluntarily disclosed this investigation to the Colombian Financial Superintendence through the National Registry of Securities and Issuers. Based on the progress of the matter to date, management has not provided for any potential liability that may result from the investigation or related regulatory proceedings.”
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