Happy Birthday, FCPA: Implications of DOJ’s New FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy on the Act’s 40th

A year ago, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made a major policy announcement regarding the new Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Corporate Enforcement Policy. The Policy is the most extensive and substantial change to the U.S. Attorneys’ Manual section on the FCPA and has implications for both companies and individuals. It promises substantial benefits for cooperative companies — including a presumptive “declination” of prosecution provided that the Policy’s prerequisites are satisfied. Should companies jump for joy or should they look upon the Policy with a jaundiced eye? Justin Danilewitz and Albert Moran caution that the need for careful, fact-sensitive and detailed weighing of the costs and benefits of disclosure, and the value in robust compliance policies and procedures, remain as critical as ever. They discuss the Policy, cases illustrating how the Policy will be applied, and the implications of the Policy for companies and individuals.