On November 14, 2012, the Department of Justice and the
Securities and Exchange Commission released their long-awaited
guidance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The 120-page
compendium, A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act, does not evince a sea change in government
interpretation and enforcement of the FCPA. It does, however,
provide some welcome and helpful guidance into a murky legal
regime.
In between its introduction and conclusion, the Guide contains
eight substantive chapters, entitled as follows: The FCPA:
Anti-Bribery Provisions; The FCPA: Accounting Provisions; Other
Related U.S. Laws; Guiding Principles of Enforcement; FCPA
Penalties, Sanctions, and Remedies; Resolutions; Whistleblower
Provisions and Protections; and DOJ Opinion Procedure. Throughout
its discussion, the Guide provides citations to numerous related
enforcement and guidance materials, and addresses how DOJ and SEC
would likely respond to several hypothetical
