Shearman & Sterling's Recent Trends And Patterns in the Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) / FCPA Digest

Shearman & Sterling has published the latest issue of its FCPA Digest report, highlighting how FCPA enforcement actions have fared in 2022 amid a change of U.S. administration and enforcement priorities and the lingering impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and its disruption of market and governmental activity.

Among the highlights include:

• ten combined DOJ and SEC corporate enforcement actions with total sanctions of approximately $1.68 billion—a notable increase from the prior year;
• two DOJ declination and disgorgement letters;
• revisions announced by the DOJ to its corporate criminal enforcement policies, focusing on individual accountability, voluntary self-disclosure, effective compliance programs, and retroactive discipline;
• DOJ’s potential requirement for CEO and CCO compliance certifications;
• a DOJ opinion release regarding the extortion affirmative defense/exception;
• judicial decisions continuously challenging the DOJ’s jurisdictional assertion of agency status to haul defendants with limited interaction with the U.S. into court;
• the growing coordination between the FCPA enforcement agencies and other U.S. regulatory entities, including the CFTC;
• the additional compliance challenges due to COVID 19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine;
• a number of private lawsuits filed in the aftermath of corruption-related investigations and enforcement actions, including securities fraud and restitution cases; and
• the ongoing criticisms faced by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office’s for its questionable conduct in the Unaoil case and the ENRC dispute.

Our latest report explores continuing and developing trends and patterns in the U.S. and elsewhere, as well as helpful guidance on emerging best practices in FCPA and global anti-corruption compliance programs.