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Departing FCPA Chief Leaves Legacy of Tough Enforcement at Justice Department
By Brian Monroe
printThe departure Friday of the Justice Department's top enforcer of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act will mark an end to an era, not a slowdown in penalties against violators, say analysts. As Mark Mendelsohn, deputy chief in the Justice Department's Fraud Section, makes an expected jump to private practice, he'll leave behind a legacy of having spearheaded enforcement of the government's chief anti-foreign bribery law. He'll also leave strong partnerships with foreign law enforcement agencies and a team experienced in fining violators hundreds of millions of dollars. "There is no question he has made an enormous impact, both domestically...
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To Comply With Anti-Bribery Law, Banks Must Be Careful with Payments for Licenses, Sovereign Clients
As prosecutors continue to accuse companies and individuals of foreign bribery, banks should be cautious about how they acquire licenses and sovereign wealth accounts, and where their clients send money abroad, say consultants.
The U.S. Justice Department's long-awaited guidance for businesses complying with a foreign anti-bribery law will do little to change its enforcement even as it sets some minds at ease, say attorneys.
As global efforts to crack down on bribery grow, financial institutions need to more closely scrutinize the accounts they maintain for politically-tied figures, according to a former senior assistant U.S. attorney.
Financial institutions operating in the U.K. could be among the first companies fined under a new British anti-bribery law, according to speakers at an anti-money laundering conference in Amsterdam Monday.
The United Kingdom's law enforcement arm said Wednesday that it would not pursue convictions under a new anti-bribery law against companies and individuals with a limited presence in the country.
A stringent new British anti-bribery law will be implemented before the end of the year despite concerns from the business community and the Cameron government, according to the measure's authors.
Senate panel members Tuesday criticized the U.S. Justice Department's enforcement of a U.S. anti-bribery law even as representatives from the commercial sector asked Congress to better shield it from penalties.
U.S. Justice Department investigations of foreign bribery will likely end up snaring financial institutions, according to the former head of the government's anti-corruption unit.
U.S. financial institutions and other companies will have additional anti-money laundering and anti-bribery monitoring duties when a new U.K. law takes effect next year, according to a U.K. regulator.
Nigerian politicians deposited millions of dollars obtained through bribes into accounts at some of the U.K.'s most prestigious banks, which subsequently faced no apparent regulatory penalties, a British advocacy group said Monday.
The rise in U.S. prosecutions of companies that bribe foreign officials won't likely plateau for another four or five years, when European countries are expected to further clamp down on the crime, according to the former assistant chief for the Fraud Section of the Justice Department.
A British anti-bribery bill expected to pass this month could increase the likelihood that U.S. financial institutions and other companies will face sizable monetary penalties for overseas deals, say consultants.
The U.S. Justice Department plans to grow its staff of less than 10 prosecutors specializing in cases tied to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to 15 or more, a spokeswoman confirmed.
Banks and other companies around the world are delaying deals in developing markets, in some cases canceling projects altogether, because they are afraid of being snared by anti-corruption laws, according to a private survey released today.
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Financial institutions are increasingly renegotiating or dropping planned business deals over concerns that they might violate U.S. anti-bribery laws, according to a survey released Monday.
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