SHEARMAN & STERLING’S RECENT TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT (FCPA) / FCPA DIGEST JANUARY 2022
Shearman & Sterling’s bi-annual Trends & Patterns in FCPA Enforcement report provides insightful analysis of recent enforcement trends and patterns in the U.S., the U.K., and globally, as well as helpful guidance on emerging best practices in FCPA and global anti-corruption compliance programs.
As we explain in this year-end Trends & Patterns, among the highlights from 2021 were:
- a change in presidential administration, coupled with public emphasis by the new Biden Administration on increased anti-corruption enforcement;
- four combined DOJ and SEC corporate enforcement actions with total sanctions of approximately $659 million, the lowest amount since 2015;
- charges announced by the DOJ against twenty-three individual defendants, while the SEC did not bring any FCPA-related individual enforcement actions;
- a judicial decision further questioning the DOJ’s jurisdictional assertion of agency status to haul defendants with limited interaction with the U.S. into court;
- a legislative proposal to expand anti-corruption penalties to bribe recipients, individuals that until now have faced almost exclusively conspiracy to commit money laundering charges – a development supported by OECD’s updated anti-corruption recommendations;
- a number of significant updates to private lawsuits filed in the aftermath of corruption-related investigations and enforcement actions, including in securities fraud and restitution cases; and
- the U.K. Serious Fraud Office manages to secure a number of corporate settlements and convictions this year, amidst a sea of bad publicity.
