All articles by Tom Fox – Page 30
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Blog
Ex-SAP Executive Pleads to FCPA Charges
The Justice Department and SEC jointly announced an enforcement action on Wednesday against a former executive of SAP International for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing officials in Panama to win government contracts. Vicente Eduardo Garcia, 65, will pay damages totalling $92,300 and faces sentencing later this ...
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The Current State of the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office
Image: Britain’s Serious Fraud Office appears to be under intense pressure, amid the announcement that another part of the government, led by International Development Secretary Justine Greening, is launching a new specialized anti-corruption unit to investigate cases of international corruption affecting developing countries. While the SFO achieved a significant victory ...
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The Man From FCPA Arrives
Today, I begin a blogging series for Compliance Week as The Man From FCPA. Our goal is to provide you with up-to-date information on all things related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti-corruption overall. I will cover FCPA issues that have a U.S.-centric focus, and also other anti-corruption ...
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On the Death of Cecil the Lion and the FCPA
By now most everyone knows that in July, U.S. citizen and big game hunter Walter Palmer traveled to Zimbabwe and then shot and killed Cecil the Lion, a protected animal. What does that have to do with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? Quite a lot, columnist Tom Fox notes. This ...
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The Overlooked Lessons of PetroTiger Trial
The corruption trials against three former executives of PetroTiger ended with a whimper in June, when the last defendant pled guilty to FCPA violations. Contrary to what many say, however, the PetroTiger case offered some valuable—and good—news for compliance officers. This week, columnist Tom Fox reviews how the company avoided ...
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As BHP Enforcement Shows, the Proof Is in the Doing
Yes, Virginia, you can violate the FCPA even without bribing a foreign government official—just ask BHP Billiton, fined $25 million by the SEC for having a compliance program that looked great on paper, but was never strongly implemented. This week, columnist Tom Fox does a post-mortem on how BHP’s program ...
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FIFA Drops the Ball: Corruption and FCPA Charges
Last week, a 47-count indictment was unsealed in a federal court in Brooklyn, charging 14 defendants—all associated with the governing body of international soccer, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association—in connection with their participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer. In a special ...
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The SEC Views on Whistleblowers: Sit Up and Listen
Whistleblowers—protecting them, working with them, not stifling them—continue to be one of the most important parts of the compliance officer’s job. This week, columnist Tom Fox reviews the SEC’s recent pronouncements on how it wants whistleblowers to be treated and how the SEC itself plans to keep encouraging whistleblowers to ...
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Still Reading Tea Leaves on FCPA Enforcement? Try Listening and Reading
Sometimes all the angst and analysis about FCPA enforcement need not happen; sometimes, voices in the enforcement community just tell us what’s coming. That has been the case lately, Compliance Week columnist Tom Fox writes this week, as the SEC’s recent settlement with KBR over confidentiality agreements proves. Inside, he ...
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The Ups and Downs of FCPA Politics in Washington
Several events in Washington lately show just how well FCPA enforcement is—or more precisely, is not—understood there. This week, columnist Tom Fox turns his eye first to critics of the Justice Department’s new top FCPA prosecutor, and then to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and his ham-handed efforts to politicize the ...
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Slippery Slope of FCPA Enforcement Against Individuals
The compliance community has long hectored the Justice Department to prosecute more individuals, rather than corporations. Now we’re starting to see that happen, and a thicket of legal questions are arising. Inside, Compliance Week columnist Tom Fox gives a tour of the current landscape. What’s on the horizon is not ...
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Painful Lessons Learned From Alstom, Avon Settlements
Two long-standing FCPA investigations—one into Avon, the other into Alstom—wrapped up in December, with results sure to alarm any audit committee. The fines were huge, the investigation costs just as large and, above all, the costs of non-cooperation were demonstrated to be painfully high. Inside, Compliance Week columnist Tom Fox ...
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Janus, COSO, FCPA Compliance and Enforcement
The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines have long been one path to kinder treatment from the Justice Department for FCPA violations. On the civil side enforced by the SEC, something similar may be emerging: the COSO 2013 framework for effective internal control. How different are those two paths? Not as much as ...
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How Layne Christensen and Hewlett-Packard Earned Favorable Treatment After an FCPA Charge
When Layne Christensen, a global water management and construction company, and tech pioneer Hewlett-Packard were targeted for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, they both escaped harsh punishments by cooperating with enforcement authorities. Their actions serve as a how-to for earning cooperation credit. Inside, columnist Tom Fox runs down their ...
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For FCPA Compliance, Don’t Forget the Internal Controls
They have been there all along, hiding in plain sight: the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act requirements for internal controls.The problem is that most compliance practitioners have not been reading them too carefully. What are internal controls in a FCPA compliance program? Aaron Murphy, a partner at Akin Gump and author ...