2019 was a very significant year for every compliance practitioner and compliance program. Not only was it the year with the single highest amount of FCPA enforcement actions, fines and penalties assessed against corporation but it also saw the greatest number of individual prosecutions. Yet perhaps most significantly there were three noteworthy releases of information by the federal government which directly impacted compliance professionals in 2019. Two came from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and one came from the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). These three guidances contributed to the continued evolution of what constitutes a best practices compliance program.
Three key takeaways:
- The 2019 Guidance asks three key questions of every corporate compliance program and adds a mandate for culture assessment, management and improvement.
- The OFAC Framework mandates on third parties not simply those in the sales cycle but also vendors in the Supply Chain and customers as well.
- The Antitrust Division Compliance Evaluation adds a requirement for data analytics and statistical analysis in monitoring and continuous improvement.
