Anti-Bribery & Anti-Corruption (FCPA)
While many law firms now have experience in corporate integrity, few have counseled companies in connection with the complex range of matters that McGuireWoods has both inside and outside the United States. Our experience has created a high level of credibility and relationships with enforcement decision-makers at the DOJ, SEC, SFO and other key law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
We have:
- Direct experience with government policymakers and decision-makers, including intimate knowledge of prosecutorial processes.
- A full-service cross border investigations team that is fully integrated with a robust ethics and compliance counseling and investigation practice.
- Experience with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), UK Bribery Act and other anti-corruption and corporate integrity matters in more than 150 countries on six continents;
Over the last fifteen years, there has been an unprecedented rise in the number, severity and scope of FCPA and other anti-bribery and anti-corruption (ABAC) enforcement actions by the U.S. government. At the same time, foreign and international anti-corruption laws and standards are proliferating, along with close cooperation amongst U.S. and non-U.S. law enforcement. We have experienced these developments from the front lines, advising a broad spectrum of clients – including some of the largest multinational companies in the world – as they navigate internal and external investigations, compliance program development and enhancement, and other critical facets of FCPA and other ABAC matters.
Our lawyers regularly conduct internal investigations and defend external investigations across major substantive areas relevant to international trade, including the FCPA, UK Bribery Act, False Claims Act and related qui tam matters, sanctions regulations (OFAC), Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). We conduct internal audits and investigations focused on identifying suspected violations, prepare voluntary self-disclosures for submission to the government and work to negotiate with the government for the best possible result. We represent clients at every stage of these government investigations — from informal inquiries through disciplinary proceedings and appeals.
How We Help
Clients in the financial services, energy, aerospace, defense and government services, manufacturing, software, and life sciences industries look to us to:
- Conduct risk assessments, develop operational “heat maps” designed to rank higher risk areas, and otherwise help clients to understand, quantify and prioritize the risks they face
- Develop and provide general, operation, function or region-specific compliance training
- Conduct compliance audits, reviews, and assessments
- Conduct pre-merger and post-acquisition M&A due diligence, and assist with follow-on business and compliance integration efforts
- Deploy a robust and effective anti-corruption compliance program to avoid or mitigate the potential damage from a DOJ, SEC or non-U.S. investigation
- Conduct third-party due diligence and help to develop and deploy third-party due diligence protocols and programs
- Develop a hotline or other issue reporting and escalation procedures, and assist in the review and resolution of reported issues
- Conduct internal investigations and defend external investigations
Our Team
McGuireWoods is home to an elite government investigations and white collar defense practice. Our lawyers are experienced in all major substantive areas relevant to international trade, including the FCPA, UK Bribery Act, False Claims Act and related qui tam matters, sanctions regulations (OFAC, BIS and State), EAR and ITAR. Our corporate integrity team includes former high-level government enforcement officials including:
- Deputy Attorney General for the United States of America
- Assistant Attorney General for National Security
- UK’s Serious Fraud Office and Financial Services Authority
- Former high-level government enforcement officials at the SEC and DOJ
- U.S. and Assistant U.S. Attorneys; and
- Roles within the White House, FBI and FINRA.
As such, our team members are considered thought-leaders in the FCPA field and routinely contribute to articles on ABAC-related topics, including regular publication on The FCPA Blog, Law 360 and the firm’s blog, Subject to Inquiry. They have been recognized as leading practitioners in FCPA by Chambers USA and Chambers Global.
For more details, download our team brochure.
EXPERIENCE
- Assisted a global Fortune 500 consumer products company with development of a comprehensive anti-corruption compliance program in connection with its expansion into non-U.S. business activities, most notably in Latin America and China.
- Conducted an internal investigation for a publicly-traded specialty chemicals company to address whistleblower allegations of corrupt payments being made by company personnel to government officials in China, including a risk analysis and review of the company’s entire global ABAC compliance program.
- Providing regular FCPA counseling to an international telecommunication and wireless company, including monitoring and updating related compliance policies.
- Represented a UK technology company and its U.S. parent in relation to an investigation and subsequent self-report to the Serious Fraud Office in relation to improper payments made through agents to secure contracts in China, Korea and India and successfully secured the second Deferred Prosecution Agreement to be approved in the UK.
- Defended a Company Officer facing prosecution in the UK and advising the linked company with clients in U.S. and Europe, in relation to the UK Bribery Act prosecution and interconnected money laundering. The seven year cross border investigation alleges assets have been moved from London to India, Singapore and Hong Kong.
