The Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have released “A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act”, consisting of 130 pages (“Resource Guide”).
The Resource Guide outlines the anti-bribery and accounting provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), providing demonstrative examples and hypotheticals designed to “provide helpful information to enterprises of all shapes and sizes – from small businesses doing their first transactions abroad to multi-national corporations with subsidiaries around the world.” Resource Guide, Foreword. The Resource Guide further sheds light on definitions of the operative terms utilized in the FCPA; for example, it provides meaningful and succinct explanations for the terms “corruptly”, “willfully”, and “anything of value” set forth in the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.
The Resource Guide sets forth a wealth of information regarding the FCPA. The entire Resource Guide can be downloaded here: http://sec.gov/spotlight/fcpa/fcpa-resource-guide.pdf.
