On 10 July 2018, Shearman & Sterling published its bi-annual Trends and Patterns in FCPA Enforcement report (FCPA Enforcement Report), which provides insightful analysis of recent enforcement trends and patterns in the United States, the U.K. and elsewhere, as well as helpful guidance on emerging best practices in FCPA and global anti- corruption compliance programs.
The FCPA Enforcement Report is an invaluable compendium of all FCPA-related developments in the first half of 2018, including U.S. foreign bribery proceedings and criminal prosecutions, DOJ foreign bribery civil actions, SEC actions, DOJ policy, ongoing FCPA investigations, pre-FCPA prosecutions and parallel litigation related to the FCPA.
As is further detailed in the FCPA Enforcement Report, among the highlights from the first half of 2018 were:
- nine corporate enforcement actions with total sanctions of approximately $1.03 billion. Although only slightly more enforcement actions than the eight that had been brought at this time last year, the total sanctions thus far in 2018 are significantly higher than the total sanctions of $272 million at this point in time last year;
- after a significant period of time without bringing any enforcement actions, the DOJ brought four actions in a two-month span;
- the DOJ entered into its first coordinated resolution with French authorities in a foreign bribery case, possibly heralding the emergence of France as an important global anti-corruption authority;
- as in recent years, two outlier enforcement actions distort the picture, raising the average corporate sanction for 2018 to $114.2 million, whereas the true average, with outliers excluded, is significantly less than this figure ($23.1 million). The median sanction of $9.2 million is broadly in line with those from recent years ($29.2 million in 2017, $14.4 million in 2016, and $13.4 million in 2015); and
- the DOJ announced a new policy addressing situations where enforcement actions involve penalties imposed by more than one regulator or law enforcement authority that is designed to avoid the "piling on" of fines and penalties.
The FCPA Enforcement Report is available at:
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