Fcpa Compliance Report

One of the issues in any compliance program is the compensation paid to a third party as FCPA exposure arises when companies pay money - either directly or indirectly - to fund bribe payments.  In the traditional intermediary scenario, the company funnels money to the agent or consultant, who then passes on some or all of it to the bribe recipient.  Often, the payment is disguised as compensation to the intermediary, and some portion is redirected for corrupt purposes.   When companies grant distributors uncommonly steep discounts, bribes can result either: 1) because the distributor is instructed by the company to use the excess amounts to fund corrupt payments; or 2) because the distributor pays bribes on its own, without the express direction or implicit suggestion from the company to do so, in an effort to gain some business advantage. The 2012 FCPA Guidance, it noted that common red flags associated with third parties include “unreasonably large discounts to third-party distributors”.  The distributor en