September 15, 2022
When U.S. government agencies investigate potential violations of laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), internal investigations can help companies understand the facts and mount a defense, as Martin De Luca and Scott Nielson explained in a lecture offered by the IBCCRIM (Brazilian Institute for Criminal Sciences).
Martin De Luca and Scott Nielson explain that U.S. anticorruption laws are far-reaching, but not unlimited. In the past, U.S. government enforcement agencies have investigated foreign companies registered on a U.S. stock exchange, agents of U.S.-registered companies and even foreign nationals if they allegedly engaged in corrupt conduct on U.S. territory. By properly calibrating the scope of an internal investigation, companies can avail themselves of the benefits of full cooperation, and push back against overly broad government investigations, while avoiding unexpected cost overruns. By expanding an investigation beyond the company’s four walls, companies that are the victims of fraud or corruption may recover their losses.