Upheld ex-Alstom exec’s acquittal affirms ‘setback’ for FCPA’s reach
By 
Jaclyn Jaeger2022-09-01T15:04:00
A Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case that has been the center of a back-and-forth court battle for nearly a decade appears to have come to an end, giving chief compliance officers and in-house counsel at least some degree of finality regarding the jurisdictional scope of the FCPA.
In United States v. Hoskins, a divided three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held on Aug. 12 the foreign national at the heart of the case had not acted as an “agent of a domestic concern” and thus fell outside the extraterritorial reach of the FCPA.
The underlying dispute concerned FCPA charges brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2013 against Lawrence Hoskins, a U.K. citizen and former senior executive at the British subsidiary of French power and transportation company Alstom.
Related articles
-
ArticleABB avoids DOJ monitor, to pay $327M over South African bribes
ABB agreed to pay $327 million in penalties to settle coordinated charges it paid bribes to win South African energy contracts. The company entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
-
ArticleSEC order against recidivist Oracle skirts the issue
The most notable and relevant details in settlement agreements concerning regulatory compliance violations are often what is not stated. The SEC’s cease-and-desist order against Oracle over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is no exception.
-
ArticleReport: Global anti-bribery enforcement levels hit record low
Only the United States and Switzerland can be considered “active enforcers” in tackling foreign bribery, while countries like the United Kingdom and Israel have taken a step back, according to the latest report from Transparency International.
More from Regulatory Enforcement
-
ArticleFATF focus on criminal asset recovery points to a more investigatory role for compliance
Global organised crime is booming, and only 1 to 2 percent of the $4 trillion black economy is intercepted, according to figures from the Financial Action Task Force. Its new guidance suggests that countries should focus on rapid investigations, collaborative intelligence gathering, and confiscating the proceeds of criminal activity.
-
ArticleCrypto network Paxful will plead guilty to BSA violations, pay $4M fine, shut down
Paxful, a crypto peer-to-peer network, will plead guilty to multiple federal criminal charges related to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), among others. The plea agreement follows years of scrutiny from regulators over anit-money laundering (AML) compliance failures.
-
ArticleFormer Credit Suisse compliance officer charged with money laundering
A compliance officer is facing charges for laundering $7 million in a complex legal case in Switzerland. Swiss prosecutors have charged Credit Suisse, and one of its former employees, with failing to maintain adequate controls.