Manatt Partner Speaks to Compliance Week on Gift Expenses, According to New FCPA Guide
"Inside FCPA Guidance: What to Expect Next"
Compliance Week
November 27, 2012 - Manatt's Jacqueline Wolff, co-chair of the firm's Corporate Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice, spoke to Compliance Week about how the new Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guide explains gift, travel and entertainment for foreign officials.
Compliance Week reports that the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission's new 120-page guide represents the most comprehensive analysis on how the government enforces the FCPA and how it interprets foggy components.
The FCPA allows for reasonable and appropriate expenses of foreign officials, including travel and entertainment expenses; however, the question that always concerned companies is where the government draws the line on such expenses. The new guide emphasizes that enforcement actions will be based on whether the gifts or entertainment involved corrupt intent.
The guidance should provide some comfort for companies that give gifts to foreign officials as tokens of esteem or gratitude or those that host foreign officials for company tours or demonstrations, said Wolff.