As we look back on 2019, several FCPA enforcement trends emerge. The following summarizes the key statistics and developments in 2019:
- The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) brought 29 enforcement actions in 2019. 12 guilty pleas were entered and the DOJ obtained 4 convictions (Mark Lambert, Lawrence Hoskins, John Baptiste, and Roger Richard Boney).
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought 18 enforcement actions, 5 of which were against individuals (Gordon Coburn, Steven Schwartz, Sridhar Thiruvengadam, Nancy Gougarty, and Jerry Li).
- As we discussed in our Mid-Year Review, sanction totals in 2019 were the highest ever, topping $2.9 billion, with Telfonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (“Ericsson”) paying more than $1 billion to the DOJ and SEC and Russian Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (“MTS”) paying $850 million to the DOJ and SEC.
- As we discussed in our March 2019 Alert, the DOJ declined to prosecute several companies this year, including Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation and Quad/Graphics, Inc. The declinations were based upon the factors set forth in the DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Policy, which was updated several times in 2019. Specifically, the Corporate Enforcement Policy rewards voluntary disclosure of FCPA violations, full cooperation, and timely remediation.
These statistics signal that in 2020, the government will continue to pursue enforcement actions aggressively, and the amount of overall sanctions will continue to grow. The number of declinations by the DOJ may continue to grow as the DOJ clarifies its corporate enforcement policy. We will continue to monitor these trends throughout 2020.
- Partner
Heather Hatfield represents clients in corporate investigations, white-collar crime investigations and defense involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), complex contract disputes, oil and gas litigation ...
- Partner
Blake Runions assists clients with broad range of business disputes and investigatory matters, including partnership disputes, internal investigations, and commercial litigation.
Prior to joining the Firm, Blake worked in the ...
- Associate
Jamie Godsey represents public and private corporations, partnerships, and small companies on a broad range of complex business and commercial litigation. Her experience includes a wide variety of matters such as contractual ...
Recent Posts
- Best Practices to Ensure Compliance with Upcoming Data Protection Regulations
- Government Signals Focus on AI Enforcement and Data Protection
- CSF 2.0 – An Expanded Cybersecurity Framework for all Organizations
- Anti-Corruption Enforcement: 2023 Year-In-Review
- ComEd Settlement Proves the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Is Not Limited to Foreign Corruption
- Compliance Challenges Arising from the Use of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence
- Human Resources Compliance Audits (Part 2)
- Human Resources Compliance Audits (Part 1)
- U.S. Attorneys’ Offices Implement New Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy
- Anti-Corruption Enforcement: 2022 Year-In-Review
TopicsSelect Category
ArchivesSelect Month
- June 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- June 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- November 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019