This morning, the DOJ and the SEC released a 120-page "Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act." The guidance has been eagerly awaited by corporations and lawyers practicing in the FCPA area, and comes on the eve of the National Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, at which DOJ Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer is expected to deliver the keynote speech.

There is a great deal of material to sift through in the guide, and there will be much written about this guidance in the coming days and weeks. According to the SEC's press release today, 

The guide provides helpful information to enterprises of all sizes from small businesses doing their first transactions abroad to multi-national corporations with subsidiaries around the world. The guide addresses a wide variety of topics including who and what is covered by the FCPA's anti-bribery and accounting provisions; the definition of a "foreign official"; what constitute proper and improper gifts, travel, and entertainment expenses; facilitating payments; how successor liability applies in the mergers and acquisitions context; the hallmarks of an effective corporate compliance program; and the different types of civil and criminal resolutions available in the FCPA context. 

The guide offers hypotheticals, examples of enforcement actions and matters that the SEC and DOJ have declined to pursue, and summaries of applicable case law and DOJ opinion releases to help illustrate the SEC and DOJ approach to FCPA enforcement. There will be much more to come on this, so stay tuned.

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