The Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, or FCPA, prohibits bribery of foreign officials and physicians to enhance business deals and ensures books and records are properly maintained for full transparency of expenses. The FCPA has an extensive reach that applies to prohibited conduct anywhere in the world.
Following a record-setting 2020, the year 2021 saw a more modest pace of FCPA enforcement, particularly as it relates to corporate actions. Below, we list several key highlights we saw in 2021.
1. Low Corporate Enforcement Figures
From the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that made it difficult for the DOJ and SEC to investigate outside the US to turnover in SEC and DOJ leadership, 2021 saw the lowest corporate FCPA enforcement figures in a decade. In 2021, the DOJ and SEC brought FCPA enforcement actions against four companies and imposed financial penalties totaling $282 million. For comparison, 12 companies paid a record $6.4 billion to resolve FCPA cases in 2020.
2. Surge in Whistleblower Claims
The SEC whistleblower program awarded more than $500 million in 2021, including two sizeable awards to FCPA whistleblowers. As a result of this incentive, the SEC received more than 12,200 whistleblower tips, which is the largest number of whistleblower tips received in a fiscal year representing a 77% increase from 2020. Approximately 258 of those tips alleged FCPA violations.
3. Renewed Focus On FCPA Enforcement Against Companies And Individuals
New policy initiatives like the Biden administration’s National Security Strategy Memorandum and the United States Strategy for Countering Corruption suggest a renewed focus on anti-corruption. These documents designate the fight against corruption as a core interest of national security. Also, the DOJ introduced new policies for how it will evaluate companies who are seeking “credit for cooperation and remediation in corporate white-collar matters, and with respect to the scrutiny it will apply to companies’ compliance with the terms of deferred and non-prosecution agreements.”
Do you have valuable information that can help bring fraud to light? If so, we encourage you to speak to our experts today. DJO is comprised of a highly experienced team of whistleblower experts, lawyers, and even former whistleblowers, who strive to deliver the highest monetary reward for brave individuals who have valuable information that can expose fraud.
If a whistleblower’s lawsuit is successful, the reward can be between 15% to 30% of the funds recovered. In most cases, the False Claims Act also offers whistleblowers protection against job retaliation.
DJO will be there every step of the way to ensure you are safe and your information is confidential so you will have confidence knowing you’re doing the right thing.
