Lack of an FCPA compliance programme can incur heavy costs or even imprisonment, but contrasting rules between the US and the EU make navigation of these laws complicated
Although the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has been on the books in roughly its current form for more than 30 years, its practical importance has increased dramatically in recent years, with the US authorities stepping up FCPA enforcement and demanding ever-steeper penalties from companies charged with having violated its terms. This trend has major implications for European companies which are often directly subject to the FCPA, either because they have US-based operations, or because they issue securities that are traded on US exchanges.
