TLDR:
The FCPA is a US federal law prohibiting companies and individuals from bribing foreign government officials to obtain or retain business, with extraterritorial reach covering non-US companies listed on US exchanges.
FCPA Enforcement and Penalties
FCPA enforcement has accelerated significantly since 2010, with the Department of Justice and SEC pursuing both companies and individual executives. Penalties can be severe: corporate fines in the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, disgorgement of profits, criminal prosecution of executives, debarment from government contracting, and mandatory corporate compliance monitors. Companies like Goldman Sachs (1MDB scandal), Airbus, and Siemens have each paid billions in FCPA-related settlements, demonstrating that the law is aggressively enforced even against major multinational corporations.
FCPA Compliance for Startups Expanding Internationally
Anti-Bribery and Books-and-Records Provisions
The FCPA has two main components: anti-bribery provisions (prohibiting corrupt payments to foreign officials to influence official action) and accounting provisions (requiring issuers to maintain accurate books and records and adequate internal controls). The accounting provisions apply broadly to all public issuers and are frequently the basis for FCPA settlements even where the underlying bribery cannot be proven directly.
FCPA-Style Laws Globally
The FCPA is no longer unique. The UK Bribery Act 2010 is broader in some respects (covers private-to-private bribery, includes a corporate strict-liability offense). France’s Sapin II, Brazil’s Clean Company Act, Germany’s revisions, and Turkey’s TCK and MASAK regimes have created a global anti-bribery enforcement environment. Multinational companies must operate compliance programs that satisfy multiple regimes simultaneously, often defaulting to the strictest applicable standard.