The first half of 2008 has seen no abatement in the continued trend of increasingly aggressive enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA").  Indeed, there have already been more enforcement actions in the first half of 2008 than the annuyal total in any previous year other than 2007.  Moreover, although the record-setting $44 million combined penalty levied against Baker Hughes in April 2007 has yet to be eclipsed, there have been a number of very large penalties.  For example, in late 2007 and early 2008, Chevron Corporation and AB Volvo entered into Oil-for-Food related settlements of $30 million and $19.6 million, respectively.  In May 2008, Willbros Group, Inc. settled FCPA charges witht he Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and Department of Justice ("DOJ") for a combined $32.3 million.  In fact, a government official has publicly speculated that a $100 million FCPA settlment may not be far off.

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Please click on the thumbnail to the right to find a new FCPA Alert that discusses the Department of Justice's recent Opinion Procedure Release 08-02, that provides important merger-related FCPA guidance. Consistent with other recent DOJ pronouncements and enforcement proceedings, Release 08-02 emphasizes the compelling importance of due diligence, this time in the acquisition context. Among other things, the Release also (a) emphasizes the critical need to remediate improper conduct, including through the termination of relationships with third parties and employees; (b) reiterates the DOJ's view as to the importance of self-disclosure; and (c) clarifies to some extent the DOJ's view of inherited liability in the acquisition context, including pre-existing joint ventures and business relationships.