For many years the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been the dominant anti-bribery regulation affecting multinational companies. More recently, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010 has been in the spotlight, with a broader jurisdictional reach and subject-matter scope. Complying with these and other anti-bribery laws often requires companies with global operations to transfer data across borders.
Meanwhile, data privacy regulations have been enacted in many jurisdictions, particularly countries in the European Union. The privacy laws continue to evolve, and proposed new EU data protection regulations are currently under review. Complying with both anti-bribery laws and data protection regulations can be challenging, as they at times appear to be in conflict with each other. Failure to comply with current EU requirements could result in significant monetary fines, criminal penalties and an outright ban against the transfer of personal data outside of the EU, making it even more critical that companies correctly navigate the requirements of both sets of laws.
