FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT

An Overview

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1, et seq. ("FCPA"), was enacted for the purpose of making it unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business. Specifically, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA prohibit the willful use of the mails or any means of instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of any offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment of money or anything of value to any person, while knowing that all or a portion of such money or thing of value will be offered, given or promised, directly or indirectly, to a foreign official to influence the foreign official in his or her official capacity, induce the foreign official to do or omit to do an act in violation of his or her lawful duty, or to secure any improper advantage in order to assist in obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person.

Since 1977, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA have applied to all U.S. persons and certain foreign issuers of securities. With the enactment of certain amendments in 1998, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA now also apply to foreign firms and persons who cause, directly or through agents, an act in furtherance of such a corrupt payment to take place within the territory of the United States.

The FCPA also requires companies whose securities are listed in the United States to meet its accounting provisions. See 15 U.S.C. § 78m. These accounting provisions, which were designed to operate in tandem with the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, require corporations covered by the provisions to (a) make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the corporation and (b) devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls.

For particular FCPA compliance questions relating to specific conduct, you should seek the advice of counsel as well as consider using the Department of Justice's FCPA Opinion Procedure, found here.

CONTACT US REGARDING THE FCPA

By Mail
Correspondence relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) may be sent to:

Fraud Section, Criminal Division
U.S. Department of Justice
ATTN: Chief, FCPA Unit
950 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20530

By E-Mail
Report a FCPA Violation via Email to FCPA.Fraud@usdoj.gov

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Hello, world!

If you feel so bad why can't you pay Pete Bennett for services rendered between June 2001 and October 2001. Are you afraid AT&T might be liable for cost related to 9/11?

“Big mistake”: Heads are rolling at AT&T over payments to Michael Cohen

By Max de HaldevangMay 11, 2018

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson didn’t mince his words in a memo to staff: ”Our reputation has been damaged. There is no other way to say it—AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake,” he wrote, according to a memo obtained by CNBC.

Top executive Bob Quinn is leaving the company over the decision to pay $600,000 to president Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Stephenson framed the departure as Quinn “retiring,” though the Wall Street Journal reports (paywall) he is being ousted.

The telecoms giant funneled the money to Cohen through the same shell company used to pay hush money to Trump’s alleged former partner Stormy Daniels. Stephenson writes that the payment was a “serious misjudgment,” adding that the “vetting process clearly failed.”

Read the statement in full:

All AT&T employees worldwide Team, Our company has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons these last few days and our reputation has been damaged. There is no other way to say it – AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake.
To be clear, everything we did was done according to the law and entirely legitimate. But the fact is, our past association with Cohen was a serious misjudgment. In this instance, our Washington D.C. team’s vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that.
Here is more information on this issue, if you’re interested. For the foreseeable future, the External & Legislative Affairs (E&LA) group will report to our General Counsel David McAtee. Bob Quinn, Senior Executive Vice President – E&LA, will be retiring. David’s number one priority is to ensure every one of the individuals and firms we use in the political arena are people who share our high standards and who we would be proud to have associated with AT&T.
To all of you who work tirelessly every day to serve customers and represent the brand proudly, thank you. My personal commitment to you is – we will do better.

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