Company Discusses Corruption Risk In Share Statement

Richard Cassin, writing in FCPA Blog, urges more companies to follow the lead of Arcosa, a spinoff from Trinity Industries. In a registration statement for shares filed with the SEC, it warned investors that “anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws may conflict with some local customs and practices in foreign jurisdictions.” It’s a good first step, says Cassin, but he faults the company for not naming the jurisdictions where local practices may conflict with the FCPA and other anti-corruption laws. “Naming and shaming corrupt regimes can be a step toward cleaning them up or pushing them out,” he says. He also wonders what practices the company was talking about, and provides a list of possibilities. In an ideal world big public companies would communicate openly with stakeholders about the corruption risks they face, in Cassin’s opinion. Companies that paid fines to settle FCPA enforcement action in the second quarter of 2018 include: Panasonic Corporation and an aviation subsidiary, which paid $280 million to resolve FCPA offenses; Dun & Bradstreet, more than $9 million to resolve charges arising from improper payments made by two Chinese subsidiaries; and Credit Suisse Group AG, $47 million to end an investigation into hiring practices in Asia.