Felipe Rocha dos Santos: New guidance for Brazil anti-corruption settlements

In August 2013, Brazil’s game-changing Clean Companies Act introduced the leniency agreement, a deferred prosecution deal for companies willing to plead guilty and settle corruption charges.

Click to read more ...

After Odebrecht: Coordinated international enforcement is the new reality

As frequent readers of the FCPA Blog are well aware, nowadays companies must consider not only the anti-corruption regulatory regimes in their home jurisdictions, but also the criminalization and prosecution of bribery in other locales -- sometimes very distant ones -- where they do business. 

Click to read more ...

Andy Spalding on Brazil’s third pillar: The Clean Companies Act

We discussed in the two prior posts (here and here) the two laws that Brazil enacted in 2011 to make government more accountable, transparent, and efficient. But readers may recall the major public protests that erupted in Brazil in 2013. Though seemingly provoked by a public transportation rate hike, the protests were about corruption and mismanagement more broadly.

Click to read more ...

New anti-corruption regulation reaffirms Brazil’s focus on prevention

Sao Paulo, Brazil - March 15, 2015: Protesters marching on Paulista Avenue against government corruption.On March 18, Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff issued a decree that clarifies and facilitates enforcement of the country’s main tool against corporate bribery, the 2013 Clean Companies Act (“CCA”). This regulation was highly anticipated and came at a sensitive time, just a few days after massive protests against the government, and in the middle of a snowballing scandal at Petrobras that led to the first (or first high-profile) CCA enforcement actions.

Click to read more ...

After protests, Brazil president issues anti-graft regulations

Anti-corruption protests in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 16, 2015President Dilma Roussef Wednesday issued a presidential decree with regulations under the Clean Company Act. Although the statute has been in force since January 2014, several key terms had not yet been defined.

Click to read more ...

The Rio 2016 Olympics: A Window into Our World (Part Four)

In the Olympic Charter, the International Olympic Committee has specifically identified human rights, environmental issues, and international intellectual property laws as major topics that host-country contracts and laws must address. However, corruption and transparency receive comparatively little attention. This leaves the host country free to adopt its own anti-corruption measures, if it takes any such action at all.

Click to read more ...

The University of Richmond Annual Corruption Issue, Part I: Is Brazil’s Clean Companies Act a Clean Bill of Health?

The University of Richmond’s Journal of Global Law & Business is proud to announce its annual Corruption Issue. In this series of posts, each co-authored by a UR law student and Professor Andy Spalding, we’ll introduce this year’s articles and invite submissions for next year’s issue.

Click to read more ...

Brazil's Clean Companies Act -- best practices for your supply chain

Brazil's Clean Companies Act took effect on January 29. It subjects domestic and multinational companies operating in Brazil to severe civil and administrative sanctions for bribing domestic or foreign government officials. Violations can result in fines of up to 20 percent of company revenue.

Click to read more ...

Siemens says Brazil's anti-corruption law could backfire

Munich-based Siemens, the focus of an ongoing bribery probe in Brazil, is questioning if a new anti-corruption law that will take effect in Brazil on January 28 will work as intended. The company says the law could actually encourage graft among the very persons charged with enforcing it.

Click to read more ...