By James McGrath @ The FCPA Blog.
In his presentation, Mr. Breuer advised that when a possible violation has been discovered, the corporation should (1) seek the government’s input on the front end of its internal investigation, (2) describe its work plan for conducting the inquiry, and (3) be responsive to DOJ questions, suggestions, and requests to expand the scope of the investigation.
From an internal investigations perspective, this “call first” demand constitutes a seismic shift in the government’s perception of its role in the process and should present tremendous business and legal concerns for a company in its crosshairs. What the DOJ is asking for is access to the inner workings of private-sector companies and how they conduct themselves in a way that has heretofore not been seen.
At present, when an FCPA violation occurs, there is generally the following investigatory timeline: (1) occurrence of the perceived corporate wrong, (2) performance of the company’s internal investigation, and (3) determination by the company of whether to self-report and cooperate with the government’s parallel investigation and potential litigation.
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