Friday Comings and Goings

I wish I could be there.

Next week, the FCPA Professor is leading his first FCPA Institute this summer over two days, July 16 and 17. The event will be held in Milwaukee and hosted by the law firm of Foley and Lardner.

The Professor’s stated goal in leading this first Institute is “to develop and enhance fundamental skills relevant to the FCPA and FCPA compliance in a stimulating and professional environment with a focus on learning. Information at the FCPA Institute is presented in an integrated and cohesive way by an expert instructor with FCPA practice and teaching experience.” Some of the topics, which will be covered, include the following:

• An informed understanding of why the FCPA became a law and what it seeks to accomplish;
• A comprehensive understanding of the FCPA’s anti-bribery and books and records and internal controls provisions and related enforcement theories;
• Various realties of the global marketplace which often give rise to FCPA scrutiny;
• The typical origins of FCPA enforcement actions including the prominence of corporate voluntary disclosures;
• The “three buckets” of FCPA financial exposure and how settlement amounts in an actual FCPA enforcement action are typically not the most expensive aspect of FCPA scrutiny and enforcement;
• Facts and figures relevant to corporate and individual FCPA enforcement actions including how corporate settlement amounts are calculated;
• How FCPA scrutiny and enforcement can result in related foreign law enforcement investigations as well as other negative business effects from market capitalization issues, to merger and acquisition activity, to FCPA related civil suits; and
• Practical and provocative reasons for the general increase in FCPA enforcement.

In other words, it is what you have come to expect from the FCPA Professor; well-thought out reasoned analysis, practical knowledge and learning, and provocative thinking and assessment. But more than all of the above I believe you will receive some great insight into and why the FCPA Professor continually challenges the status quo in many areas about the FCPA. He and I often look at the same thing and see different views but by seeing more than one view, I believe you will come away with a deeper overall understanding of the entire FCPA picture.

For complete information on the FCPA Institute, click here.

As Monty Python might say And Now For Something Completely Different. If you would like a much shorter view of some FCPA and anti-corruption related topics, check out some of my most recent podcasts, the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report. 

In Episode 74, I visit with Paul McNulty about his upcoming move to become the President of his alma mater, Grove City College.

In Episode 72, I visit with the GRC Pundit, Michael Rasmussen about why companies have such a disconnect when it comes to the theory and practice of their GRC practices.

In Episode 69, I visit with Joe Oringel about his company’s exciting new approach to transaction monitoring in the anti-corruption space.

In Episode 68, I interview Neil Swidey, author of Trapped Under the Sea about his experiences in researching and writing his book.

In Episode 66, the FCPA Professor shares his thoughts on the Esquenazi decision.

In Episode 63 and 64, I have a two-part discussion of the management of third parties under the FCPA.

For those few of you on the planet not aware of it, the World Cup final will be held this coming Sunday. Mike Brown and I have been discussing the World Cup, FIFA and anti-corruption in our World Cup Report series. You can check out Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, or Part V.

All of the episodes of the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report are available for download on iTunes at no cost so if you want to catch up on all things FCPA and compliance related on the drive to work, you can do so. A happy Friday and enjoyable weekend to all.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2014

A Seat at the Table – Compliance in the Contract Tender Process

After all the due diligence on the sales agents and representatives has been completed and they are ready to help you land that large international contract, what is the role of compliance? I would argue that compliance has as central a role to play in any international contract tender process as any other support group in your company; be they legal, tax, HR or another department. If you put compliance at the mix when preparing your response to RFP your company will be much better served than calling them after an issue arises during the contract execution. What are some of the areas that compliance can be of use during contract negotiations?

Subcontractors

It certainly should not surprise anyone to be made aware that your company is legally responsible for its subcontractors in the execution of a contract. This is also true in the anti-corruption context, whether under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or UK Bribery Act. This means that any direct tier subcontractor, which your company might use to complete an international contract, needs to be thoroughly vetted under your compliance regime as a foreign business partner. The reason for this is the same as an agent, subcontractors are acting on your company’s behalf, and hence your company is responsible for them. If you can perform due diligence on all parties which your company will need to execute the contract in the pre-contract phase, it will make things run more smoothly and efficiently after your company is awarded the contract and moves into the execution phase.

Travel to Company Facilities

As a part of the tender process, your company may be required to bring a foreign governmental official or group of officials to view your US operations. This can occur for a number of legitimate reasons, yet care must be followed under both the FCPA and Bribery Act. Your company can pay bona fide and reasonable expenses that are directly related to either (1) the promotion, demonstration or explanation of products or services; or (2) the execution or performance of a contract. Bona fide promotional expenses may also include trips to manufacturing facilities to observe your company’s production and quality control processes or to conduct inspection and testing called for in a contract of sale.  There can also be to facilities where the training offers a legitimate opportunity to demonstrate products and services. There are some guidelines that need to be followed and they are as follows:

• Any reimbursement for air fare will be for economy class.

• Do not select the particular officials who will travel. That decision will be made solely by the foreign government.

• Only host the designated officials and not their spouses or family members.

• Pay all costs directly to the service providers; in the event that an expense requires reimbursement, you may do so, up to a modest daily minimum (e.g., $35), upon presentation of a written receipt.

• Any souvenirs you provide the visiting officials should reflect the business and/or logo and would be of nominal value, e.g., shirts or tote bags.

• Apart from the expenses identified above, do not compensate the foreign government or the officials for their visit, do not fund, organize, or host any other entertainment, side trips, or leisure activities for the officials, or provide the officials with any stipend or spending money.

• The training costs and expenses will be only those necessary and reasonable to educate the visiting officials about the operation of your company.

One of the keys is having any such travel approved by your Compliance Department prior to the travel actually occurring. In addition to the above guidelines there should be a written agenda, reviewed and approved by the compliance representative before the travel occurs. Lastly, all costs associated with the travel and entertainment must be recorded in the Company’s books and records as cost of sales and not an operating expense. The written agenda approved by the compliance representative needs to be maintained and verified by after-action reports so that the entire process is documented.

Testing and Evaluation

If your company manufactures a product, your international customer may well ask to test and evaluate products as a part of the contract tender process. These products may only be provided to support such opportunities. The testing and evaluation of samples should only occur if required by a public tender. Exceptions may be made if the samples are formally requested in writing by the potential government customer in connection with a legitimate contract opportunity. Care should be made so that any product samples are delivered to the foreign governmental agency issuing the tender, not to an individual employee or official, or to a third party. There should be a formal written request identifying the specific number of samples to be tested and evaluated from the potential government customer. The number of samples requested should be reasonable in light of the overall potential contract. All costs associated with the provisioning of sample products for testing and evaluation must be recorded in the Company’s books and records as cost of sales and not an operating expense.

Evaluation of Compliance Risk

Just as other types of risk should be evaluated in any internal contract review process, the compliance risks should also be evaluated. What is the Transparency International – Corruption Perceptions Index ranking of the country or government where the contract will be executed? Are there other sources which can be accessed, such as World Check’s Country Check rating, the Mintz Group’s heat map “Where the Bribes Are”, or the FCPA Database, which aggregates several different types of information but specifically the national anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws applicable to local jurisdictions across the globe. Using these sources and perhaps others, you can put together not only a risk evaluation plan but also a risk mitigation plan for management which they can take into account when the decision of Bid/No Bid or pricing is finalized.

The Compliance Department is more than simply the group which performs the due diligence, trains on compliance and responds to inquiries. It can, and should, play an active role in landing contracts. A mature compliance program can be a great benefit for a company, not only in evaluating risk from the compliance perspective but also preparing the necessary steps so that if a contact is awarded, it can be executed in a time efficient manner. But it must have a seat at the table.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2012

The FCPA Database – A Great New Resource for All Things Compliance

Yesterday the FCPA Blog wrote about a new resource available to the compliance practitioner, the FCPA Database. Intrigued by this introduction and still needing to cool off from my rant about the worst conflict of interest mistake (almost ever) made, I clicked over to the site for a visit. Boy was I impressed, the Database has a number of resources gathered in one location which can be of immediate use to the compliance practitioner. The site collects information which will be specific to the compliance practitioner.

The site includes sections on the following:

Law Firm Memos – A collection of the best and brightest blue chip law firm articles on all areas of anti-corruption issues.

Law Firm Directory – An invaluable collection of law firms around the world, which you can call on for system legal services or when an emergency arises and you need a law firm in Afghanistan, as in now, for example.

Events Calendar – A wide ranging section on up and coming FCPA, compliance and anti-money laundering events across the globe.

News – A daily collection of compliance and money-laundering news from around the globe. There is an aggregated section and then the globe is broken out by continent and sub-continent. So if you want to see the latest compliance and anti-corruption news about Southeast Asia you can simply click on it go directly there.

Legislative Index – For my money this is the single biggest differentiator that the FCPA Database brings to the table for the compliance practitioner. I toggled over to the country of Australia to find the following sub-categories; Anti-Corruption, anti-money laundering, privacy legislation and enforcement agencies. I then looked to see if they are a member of OECD and UNCAC and if so what are their reports on anti-corruption efforts in the country? In short it aggregates a host of information that would normally only be available to those have  in-country researchers digging out these details.

Why is such a resource needed and of such great use to the compliance practitioner? Yesterday I was one of two panelists in a webinar, jointly hosted by Ethisphere and World Check. The subject was anti-corruption efforts in China both under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Chinese law. My co-presenter was Amy Sommers, a partner in K&L Gates Shanghai office. I spoke about the FCPA affecting US companies doing business with or in China and Amy spoke about anti-corruption efforts from the Chinese perspective. Amy detailed several current laws designed to fight bribery and corruption in China.

One of the more interesting topics raised by Amy is that there are both Chinese national laws and Communist Party internal rules and regulations against government officials and party members accepting gratuities which are not reasonable in value; are given without transparency, and/or have the appearance of impropriety. Doesn’t this sound like something very close to the FCPA policy on gifts? The point of Amy’s remarks is that if the gift violates the FCPA; it probably also violates some Chinese law as well. If you, as a US company employee, make such an offer to a Chinese governmental official or employee of a state owned enterprise, you may put the recipient in the unenviable position of not wanting to lose face by not accepting your gift. But such acceptance may violate a local law.

Previously, it could have been very difficult for a US company to know the local law in a foreign jurisdiction. There was certainly no single resource to which the compliance practitioner could turn to for that information. The FCPA Database fills that gap. It is welcomed addition to all things compliance and I suggest you visit the site, noodle around and see what it has that might help you make your company’s compliance program more robust.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2011