The Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1, et seq.
("FCPA"), was enacted for the purpose of making it unlawful for
certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government
officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business.
Specifically, the
anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA prohibit the willful use of the mails or
any means of instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of
any offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment of money or
anything of value to any person, while knowing that all or a portion of such
money or thing of value will be offered, given or promised, directly or
indirectly, to a foreign official to influence the foreign official in his or her
official capacity, induce the foreign official to do or omit to do an act in
violation of his or her lawful duty, or to secure any improper advantage in
order to assist in obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing
business to, any person.
Since 1977, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA
have applied to all U.S. persons and certain foreign issuers of securities.
With the enactment of certain amendments in 1998, the anti-bribery provisions
of the FCPA now also apply to foreign firms and persons who cause, directly or
through agents, an act in furtherance of such a corrupt payment to take place
within the territory of the United States.
The FCPA also requires companies whose securities are
listed in the United States to meet its accounting provisions. See 15 U.S.C. §
78m. These accounting provisions, which were designed to operate in tandem with
the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, require corporations covered by the
provisions to (a) make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly
reflect the transactions of the corporation and (b) devise and maintain an
adequate system of internal accounting controls.
For particular FCPA compliance questions relating to
specific conduct, you should seek the advice of counsel as well as consider
using the Department of Justice's FCPA Opinion Procedure, found here.
No comments:
Post a Comment