FCPAméricas Blog
Archive for Foreign Official/Instrumentality category:
What to Expect from the Upcoming Regulation of Brazil’s New Anti-Bribery Law
12.17.2013
In August this year, Brazil passed a new Anti-Bribery Law (an unofficial translation of the law into English is available here), which will come into force on January 29, 2014 (and does not apply retroactively), holding legal entities civilly and administratively liable for bribery of local and foreign officials. The law also prohibits fraud in […]
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How Latin American Countries Define “Public Official”
10.17.2013
Under the FCPA, the meaning of “public official” is important to determining whether or not a specific payment is prohibited. This is because the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA only apply to public bribery, that is, bribes paid to public officials of non-U.S. countries. The analysis is often linked to a determination of whether an […]
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How State-Owned Enterprises Are Just Like You
6.07.2013
Usually when FCPA lawyers talk about state-owned or controlled enterprises (SOEs), like many state power utilities, public hospitals, or national oil companies, they discuss them in the context of whether or not they constitute government instrumentalities for purposes of improper payments. In fact, SOEs can present much more complicated issues than this. In some ways, […]
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How the U.S. Government Criminally Charges a Latin American Public Official
5.28.2013
Last November, then Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Lanny Breuer, told an audience at an FCPA conference: “If you are a foreign official, corrupt, and living in the United States, the U.S. Government will prosecute you.” This month the DOJ made public its criminal charges against […]
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“Instrumentality”: Ways the Government’s Power-to-Appoint Creates Control Over SOEs
8.24.2012
This week, the DOJ filed its reply brief in the Esquenazi appeal before the 11th Circuit on the meaning of “foreign official.” This is the first time that an appeals court will consider the heated issue of “instrumentality” under the FCPA – what types of entities constitute “foreign officials” for purposes of foreign bribery. In […]