Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 2014 Year End Update

Over the course of 2014, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") have continued their aggressive enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"). This has led to critical developments in the law, important corporate settlements, and a heightened awareness of FCPA investigations and prosecutions. With massive fines and disgorgements levied at companies in the past year, companies conducting business across the globe must contend with the real stakes of an FCPA investigation.

This year also saw continued use of deferred prosecution agreements ("DPAs") as part of settlements, and enforcement of the terms of DPAs against companies that had previously settled with the DOJ or SEC. In October 2014, James Kukios, the senior deputy chief of the DOJ's Fraud Section told an audience at a New York panel that his department has "more prosecutors and more resources than . . . ever [ ] before" dedicated to FCPA enforcement,