Crackdown on Foreign Bribery
January 12, 2008, The National Journal

As reported in The National Journal, in 2007 the Justice Department handed out 16 enforcement actions regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the law preventing companies from bribing foreign officials in order to maintain or win new business.

"The globalization of business is leading to the globalization of business crime enforcement," says George Terwilliger, a partner in the Washington, DC office of White & Case and head of the Firm’s White Collar Practice.

"In recent years, Terwilliger says, companies with potential bribery problems related to the FCPA have hired his firm to conduct internal investigations covering some 60 countries. 'Both the Justice Department and the SEC have a very strong interest in corrup-tion cases in connection with business in China.'"

One of the cases used to illustrate this point in the article was that of Schnitzer Steel Industries, which, according to The National Journal, "paid more that $1.8 million in bribes to Chinese officials" and was fined more than $15 million as a result.

Terwilliger, who represented Schnitzer and its board in the case, "points out that the company could have faced much stiffer fines if it had not cooperated.  'Their legal exposure could have been four or five times as much’ if they had not agreed to settle with the government, he says.'"

"The objective for us in the defense bar is to try to resolve as many of these cases with as little fanfare as possible," Terwilliger adds.