FCPAméricas Blog
Best Practices for Setting Up a Hotline
4.15.2015
A hotline is an important element of a compliance program. The Resource Guide to the FCPA mentions that “an effective compliance program should include a mechanism for an organization’s employees and others to report suspected or actual misconduct or violations of the company’s policies on a confidential basis and without fear of retaliation”. Similarly, the Brazilian regulation on compliance programs sets forth that the existence of a hotline available to employees and third parties is one of the elements that will be taken into consideration when authorities evalu... Read more
Antitrust Enforcement Trends in Latin America
4.06.2015
By: Ana Paula Martinez, Mariana Tavares de Araujo
With so much emphasis in Latin America lately on the enforcement of anti-corruption laws like the FCPA, companies should not lose sight of the fact that antitrust enforcement in countries like Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru is now well-established as well.
For example, since Brazil’s current competition law entered into force in 2012, the enforcement body CADE has issued guilty verdicts in approximately 50 investigations of anticompetitive conduct. It has conducted “dawn raids” in 15 cases since 2010. Defendants in cartel cases have been fined, on average, 15% of their annual gross revenues. Those found to have abused their dominant positions in the market have been fined roughly 5%. A record fine of U... Read more
Highlights of Brazil’s Regulation on the Clean Companies Act
3.23.2015
Brazil’s Clean Companies Act (an unofficial translation of the law into English is available here), in force since January 2014, requires the Brazilian Federal Government to issue a regulation on compliance programs. On March 18, 2015, President Dilma Roussef signed Decree 8.420/2015, regulating certain features of the Clean Companies Act. The Decree is now in force.
