Compliance issues associated with The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977
Compliance to the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) would fundamentally include restraint from situations that involve fraud or bribery. For all practical purposes, the law covers any party that conducts any international transaction through the United States of America. Certain FCPA compliance issues that may emerge in the course of doing business with foreign entities or in foreign countries are plentiful, at a time when budgets for compliance activities are threatened or already reduced during the recent worldwide economic downturn. Here the issues discussed will be
1. Improving a company’s risk assessment program
2. Ensuring training and correction is current and relevant
3. Increasing the value and responsiveness of critical information to Chief Officers
Improving a company’s risk assessment program companies can be accomplished by using a fully automated risk mitigation process (ARMP), such as Kaplan EduNeering’s FCPA Risk Mitigation Solution. During this process it is possible to “identify and target risk areas such as anti-corruption and fair competition.” ARMP software is just one of the recommended uses of smart technology to manage compliance under FCPA. Technology no doubt cuts costs and time in FCPA administration which includes, “the usual methods of risk assessment—deploying surveys, conducting interviews, running audits, and the like,” according to Nunez and Rogers (2101). Applicable to companies large and small, the key to consistent compliance and the best use of compliance practices is to embrace, and budget for, the value of automation. Nunez and Rogers (2101) explain, “Automating these risk mitigation processes as much as possible can markedly improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of a company’s risk assessment program—at whatever stage it may be.”
Of course, cyber and intranet security is a major...