| Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Anti-Corruption |
Clients facing issues arising under anti-corruption laws, such as the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and similar laws outside the United States, rely on our experience and deep expertise as one of the nation’s most respected practices in this area. The firm has been involved in FCPA issues dating back to the enactment of the statute and the government investigations that triggered its passage. Our lawyers have written the leading treatise in the field, Complying with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (Matthew Bender, 7th ed. 2010), and are regular speakers at major anti-corruption conferences in the United States and abroad. We also have considerable experience advising on German and other European anti-corruption laws, including the newly enacted United Kingdom Bribery Act.
Our team of more than 40 experienced anti-corruption lawyers works cohesively. We counsel approximately 50 US and non-US companies—across a wide variety of industries, including financial services, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and medical device, defense, technology, natural resources and others—on how to develop effective anti-corruption compliance programs, how to avoid such problems and how to deal with potential problems when they arise. We frequently represent companies and individuals in Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations into FCPA matters, perform internal corporate investigations and conduct anti-corruption risk assessments. We also conduct anti-corruption training programs at Fortune 500 and other companies.
Over the past several years, we have focused extensively on challenges facing non-US companies and on problems that arise in the context of joint ventures and other corporate transactions. We also advise companies in connection with mergers and acquisitions, including conducting pre-merger anti-corruption due diligence and implementing post-merger anti-corruption compliance programs for acquired entities.
These are some examples of significant FCPA matters we have handled or are handling:
- We represented Armor Holdings, now a subsidiary of BAE Systems, Inc., in its July 2011 FCPA settlement with the DOJ and SEC relating to the actions of a former employee of the company who later went on to become the informant in the DOJ’s 22-defendant FCPA sting case.
- We represent a number of financial institutions in connection with the SEC’s “sweep” relating to interactions by financial institutions with sovereign wealth funds, and several oil companies in connection with the SEC's "sweep" relating to business dealings in Libya.
- We represent a global airline in an investigation by the DOJ of violations of the FCPA and Travel Act.
- We represent the former chief executive officer of a public company in an investigation by the DOJ and SEC of violations of the FCPA and US sanctions laws.
- We represented oil driller Helmerich & Payne in its July 2009 settlement with the DOJ and the SEC of FCPA matters involving payments to customs officials in Argentina and Venezuela.
- We represented York International Corporation in its October 2007 deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ and settlement with the SEC relating to the company’s involvement in the United Nations Oil-for-Food program and other issues in the Middle East and elsewhere.
- We represented the Titan Corporation in its March 2005 plea agreement with the DOJ and settlement with the SEC, which resolved an FCPA investigation related to the company’s activities in Benin, Africa.
- We represented InVision Technologies Inc. in its FCPA investigation into allegations that arose in the context of a proposed merger with General Electric. DOJ agreed not to prosecute InVision, and the merger was successfully consummated.
- We represented Triton Energy Company in connection with issues that arose at its business in Indonesia, conducting an internal investigation on two continents and also representing the company and various personnel in investigations by the DOJ and the SEC.
- We represented a former in-house counsel in an SEC investigation of possible violations of the FCPA by a Latin American subsidiary of a major US company. The company ultimately entered into a consent settlement with the SEC and the lawyer was not charged.
- We succeeded in obtaining DOJ clearance under the FCPA’s advisory opinion program for a foreign joint venture that proposed to retain a government official who also was a close relative of the country’s political leader.
For more information on our FCPA practice, please contact Roger Witten in our New York office at +1 212 230 8850 or roger.witten@wilmerhale.com, Kimberly Parker in our Washington office at +1 202 663 6987 or kimberly.parker@wilmerhale.com, or Jay Holtmeier in our New York office at +1 212 295 6413 or jay.holtmeier@wilmerhale.com.