NCJ Number
210805
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 42 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2005 Pages: 545-571
Date Published
2005
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which criminalized the bribery of foreign officials or nationals by U.S. corporations and individuals.
Abstract
The FCPA also requires that companies maintain accurate records and a system of internal controls. The accounting provisions required by the FCPA are described in section 2 of the article while section 3 focuses on the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Criminal liability under the FCPA rests on whether the suspect knowingly engaged in the offense, however this knowledge requirement can be met by proving either “willful blindness” or “conscious attempts not to know.” The anti-bribery provisions described in section 3 criminalize the bribery of foreign officials by any person who commits the act on United States territory, yet do not allow for the prosecution of foreign officials who receive bribes. Section 4 of the article turns to a discussion of the criminal and civil penalties provided for any violations of the FCPA. The United States Sentencing Guidelines regarding violations of the FCPA are reviewed, as are additional penalties that may be brought against persons convicted of FCPA offenses. Section 5 describes recent global anti-corruption efforts while section 6 discusses how to develop effective FCPA corporate compliance programs within American public companies. Finally, section 7 briefly describes recent and anticipated developments in the international anti-corruption movement. Footnotes