Michael van Woerden

ICC’s Integrity Book 2021 ‘Integrity & Trust – Pillars of Prosperity’

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During the ICC Week of Integrity (1-9 December 2021), the fourth edition of the ICC’s Integrity Book was published: ‘Integrity & Trust – Pillars of Prosperity‘. A valuable source of inspiration for business management, policy makers, and other professionals that are involved in keeping the business clean and future proof. Michael van Woerden (DeComplianceMonitor) is co-author. In his essay ‘Doing the right thing – how governments can help‘  he calls upon governments to make better use of their purchasing power to stimulate the maintenance of comprehensive corporate compliance programmes by imposing related conditions as part of public procurement. The book can be downloaded free of charge and is highly recommended.

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Lisa Miller on the World Bank, Sanctions and ICO

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Lisa Miller, Head of the World Bank Integrity Compliance Office, explains. Listen to the podcast.

Lisa Miller on the World Bank, Sanctions and the Integrity Compliance Office [Podcast] – The Compliance and Ethics Blog

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Fourth Evaluation Report the Netherlands – implementation OECD Convention against foreign bribery published

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Op November 5th, 2020 the fourth Evaluation Report the Netherlands on implementation of the OECD Convention against foreign bribery has been published.  The OECD Report highlights the increasing efforts to combat bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions. However, there are concerns about the low number of criminal prosecutions and settlements in the Netherlands. A number of recommendations are provided for further improvement.

De op 4 september 2020 in werking getreden nieuwe Aanwijzing hoge transacties wordt verwelkomd. Een punt van zorg is de onduidelijkheid over de rol en werkwijze van de commissie die moet toetsen of voorgenomen hoge schikkingen voldoen aan de gestelde eisen zolang nog niet voorzien is in bij wet geregelde rechterlijke toetsing van voorgenomen hoge schikkingen. In het OESO rapport wordt erop aangedrongen vaart te maken met deze wettelijke regeling en daarbij:

  • duidelijkheid te bieden over te hanteren criteria voor het treffen van schikkingen in geval van verdenking van buitenlandse corruptie wanneer het een schikking betreft beneden de in de Aanwijzing hoge transacties opgenomen drempelwaarde van 200.000 euro;
  • te voorzien in passend (onafhankelijk) toezicht op voorgestelde schikkingen in gevallen van buitenlandse corruptie;
  • richtlijnen te publiceren ten aanzien van ‘self reporting’ en de van verdachten van buitenlandse corruptie verlangde medewerking aan het onderzoek;
  • duidelijkheid te verschaffen over de mogelijkheid van het treffen van schikkingen met natuurlijke personen;
  • te voorzien in beleid en training over door het openbaar ministerie in acht te nemen factoren bij het bepalen van sancties in relatie tot schikkingen, het opleggen van aanvullende maatregelen tot verbetering van compliance en de (mogelijkheid van) aanwijzing van een compliance monitor om toe te zien op de naleving hiervan.

Ook andere aspecten worden belicht in het OESO rapport, zoals de werking van het regime ter bescherming van klokkenluiders en de reikwijdte van legal privilege in Nederland. Het rapport wordt binnenkort aangeboden aan de Tweede Kamer en is te raadplegen via de OECD website.

Michael van Woerden

FCPA/Anti-Corruption Developments: 2018 Year in Review

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US government enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in 2018 remained robust, and the trend of increasing multi-jurisdictional cooperation and enforcement continued throughout the year. In the United States, the 33 combined individual and corporate FCPA enforcement actions concluded by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2018 were largely consistent with the average number of enforcement actions brought over the last seven years. The US $2.91 billion in monetary sanctions levied in corporate FCPA enforcement matters in 2018 reached a record high, although the chart-topping $1.78 billion penalty imposed as part of the Petrobras settlement accounts for more than half of this amount. Outside the United States, a number of countries continue to substantially enhance the legal and regulatory structure for international anti-corruption enforcement, including by passing legislation establishing corporate liability for certain types of bribery offenses and authorizing prosecutors to enter deferred prosecution agreements or other negotiated resolutions with companies accused of bribery. Click here to download the full report.

Source: Steptoe – 28 February 2019.

Michael van Woerden

First-Ever ‘French Deferred Prosecution Agreement’ authorized by French Court

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A French Court Authorizes the First-Ever “French DPA”