FCPAméricas Blog
Compliance and Enforcement at The World Bank’s Sanctions Program
2.01.2013
The following article was originally published in the ABA’s International Law News, Volume 42, Number 1. It is republished below with the permission of the ABA.
Note that an important clarification has been made to the statistic cited in the first paragraph of the original version.
Understanding the World Bank’s sanctions program and complying with its anticorruption standards have never been so important. In the first 10 months of 2012, 83 entities were sanctioned for corruption or fraud in Bank-financed projects. The number represented a 247 percent increase over the year before. Numerous entities are currently under investigation by the Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT). The evaluation and suspension officer has been busy reviewing cases at the first tier of review and, on average, almost half of these cases are appealed to the Sanctions Board.
Companies such as Oxford University Press, Alstom, and KBR are learning about the consequences of noncompliance with the Bank’s Procurement Guidelines and Consultant Guidelines with corruption, fraud, or collusion. Companies can be debarred from participation in World Bank-financed projects for years. Debarred companies show... Read more
Man Bites Dog: When Corporations Are Victims of Bribery
1.30.2013
On Monday, Chevron Corporation issued a press release entitled “Former Ecuadorian Judge Admits Role in Orchestrating Fraudulent Judgment Against Chevron.” The announcement provides a detailed account of how a judge received thousands of dollars from the lawyers and representatives of local indigenous residents in the Lago Agrio area of Ecuador who had sued the company. The suit alleged water pollution, soil contamination, and other violations related to the extraction activities there of Texaco, the company Chevron acquired in 2001.
This week’s report is sensational, to say the least. In return for the payments, the judge tells Chevron that he helped steer the case in the plaintiffs’ favor. For example, the plaintiffs were allowed to draft their own $18 billion judgment. Chevron claims that it has computer, bank, and shipping records to corroborate the judge’s claims.
If true, these reports demonstrate an important reality – large corporations are not only the sources of bribes. Sometimes they are the victims too. This su... Read more
Use of Multimedia in FCPA Compliance
1.25.2013
More and more, companies are using multimedia to convey FCPA compliance messages to their employees and third parties. Doing so allows companies to achieve an enhanced level of depth and impact in their compliance programs. Here are a few of the most interesting examples I have seen.
Substance: Providers like Click4Compliance are experts in on-line training of the basics of FCPA compliance, discussed in more detail here. These trainings can be targeted to audiences with foreign language needs. Messaging can be targeted depending on applicable areas of FCPA risk. Such providers are even offering handheld apps that allow employees to get real-time guidance on particular compliance scenarios.
Humor: Employees often see compliance as a burden. It is not fun, especially for employees whose jobs are to develop business. Compliance processes and procedures, including questionnaires and forms, take time away from the main objective, to increase sales.
But companies are using multimedia to help address this dynamic. In this video... Read more
