Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: An Empirical Examination of Enforcement Trends (2012)

Executive Summary

Full Report

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Economic Impact on Targeted Firms (2014)

Executive Summary

Full Report

Principal Researchers include:

  • Jonathan Karpoff, Washington Mutual Endowed Professor in Finance, University of Washington
  • Scott Lee, The Lincy Professor of Finance, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Gerald Martin, Associate Professor, American University
  • James C. Cooper, J.D., Ph.D., Director, Research & Policy, Law & Economics Center, George Mason University

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prohibits U.S. companies from making payments to foreign government officials to secure a business advantage. For most of the FCPA’s existence, enforcement actions were rare. In recent years, however, the Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission have markedly increased their enforcement of the FCPA.

The SCJI released two comprehensive, peer-reviewed Policy Reports. The first, The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: An Empirical Examiniation of Enforcement Trends, was presented at the Civil Justice Implications of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Academy Breifing in September of 2012. Videos of the briefing are available here. The second, The Foreign Corrput Practices Act: Economic Impact on Targeted Firms, was released in June of 2014.