FCPAméricas Blog

Surviving Shakedown Street: Rapid Escalation as a Remedy to Bribe Demands

6.29.2016

Author: Matteson Ellis

A client shipping company recently experienced a bribe demand during a port call in a high corruption risk jurisdiction. For some time in the shipping industry, there had been discussions as to whether it was best to leave these types of issues to experienced ship captains to handle, or if it was more effective to escalate them as a way to get corrupt officials to back down from their demands. In this case, escalation proved successful. Consider the following sequence of events:

The ship was making a port call in a country known for corruption risk. During a routine inspection, local customs officials boarded the vessel. The officials reviewed documentation such as passports, seaman’s books, and vacci... Read more

FCPA Compliance Strategies for Extortion in Latin America

6.23.2016

Author: Matteson Ellis

This post was co-authored by Maryna Kavaleuskaya, a Law Clerk at Miller & Chevalier.

Extortion can be an unfortunate reality for those doing business in Latin America. Rural highway shakedowns and intimidation by military personnel can and does occur in places like Venezuela. Underpaid and corrupt local police in Mexico sometimes invent violations just to request payments to look the other way. Im... Read more

FCPA Flash Discusses Latin America Anti-Corruption Developments

6.13.2016

Author: Matteson Ellis

In this FCPA Flash Podcast, Matteson Ellis discusses anti-corruption developments in Brazil, common barriers and distortions in Latin America that often serve as the root cause of bribery, and other developments in Latin America in the bribery and corruption space. The FCPA Flash is produced by the FCPA Professor... Read more