Over the past decade, U.S. government enforcement agencies have substantially increased the number of investigations of — and the resulting enforcement actions against — companies and individuals in Latin America for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In 2010, the Department of Justice reported 32 FCPA and related enforcement actions. Approximately one-third had a Latin American component. While the exact number of ongoing FCPA investigations is confidential, FCPA practitioners estimate that there are approximately 150 investigations currently pending.
The FCPA is a U.S. federal law enforced by the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is primarily an antibribery law that prohibits U.S. companies and citizens, and foreign companies publicly traded in the U.S., from corruptly offering or providing anything of value to influence foreign officials in order to obtain or retain business. The FCPA also has an accounting/internal controls provision that requires U.S. issuers to devise a system of internal accounting controls to accurately and fairly reflect transactions and to keep accurate and reasonably detailed books and records. The FCPA does not require that any part of a violation actually occur within the United States.
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