The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1, et seq.) is a United States federal law known primarily for two of its main provisions, one that addresses accounting transparency requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and another concerning bribery of foreign officials. The anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA make it unlawful for a U.S. person, and certain foreign issuers of securities, to make a payment to a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person. Since 1998, they also apply to foreign firms and persons who take any act in furtherance of such a corrupt payment while in the United States. Enforcement actions have been on the rise, and AITC is trying to educate Alabama’s small business on how to avoid FCPA violations.
The Alabama International Trade Center, in conjunction with the North Alabama International Trade Association (NAITA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce, presented a series of FCPA workshops in the Fall of 2010. List below are the presentations used by our outstanding panel of FCPA experts. If you have any FCPA questions, we strongly urge you to contact an attorney for additional legal assistance.