Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

This chapter focuses on the background of the FCPA, recent enforcement trends, the role of the forensic accountant, red flags of corruption and report writing. The FCPA was enacted to proscribe bribery of foreign officials. It has anti‐bribery provision, books and records provision, and internal control provision. Several trends in the recent past mark the activity of enforcement of the provisions of the FCPA. They include: Larger penalties, a larger number of open investigations and a spike in self‐reporting of FCPA problems etc. A forensic accountant may serve as a designated monitor in carrying out court‐ordered or regulator‐directed mandates, including the oversight of a company's design, and implementation of a compliance program and performance of forensic investigations and assessments. Red flags of corruption include: Resident entities not reporting all of their income to the tax authorities, people found guilty of approving corrupt payments to secure business. The report on an FCPA engagement should cover key issues and findings as well as plans for remediation.