WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The James Mintz Group (“Mintz Group”) today announced the launch of an interactive version of its well-known tool “Where the Bribes Are,” a map of more than 200 cases brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the U.S. law that prohibits companies and individuals from using bribery to obtain or retain business abroad.
The map is designed to provide users with information about FCPA violations, including the relative size of penalties levied, and the countries where questionable activity occurred, with a breakdown by industry sector. It also provides a visual way for companies to assess the risk of corruption in the countries where they operate or hope to operate.
“The Mintz Group has put out a ‘wall poster’ version of the map for a couple years now, and some general counsel told us it’s helped convey the risks of paying bribes, and the gravity of the FCPA crackdown, to their corporate officers and directors,” said Jim Mintz, President of the Mintz Group. “Now that boards can cruise the interactive map and explore what's happened in each country and industry, we hope the lawyers' compliance warnings are even clearer.”
The FCPA Map features information on virtually every FCPA violation around the world and graphically identifies areas of risk for companies doing business overseas. It also identifies companies and government sources associated with case filings.
“Knowing where there have been previous regulatory actions, including the specific business sector, is an outstanding data point in assessing overall risk from a regulatory perspective,” says Glenn T. Ware, co-leader of PwC's Anti-corruption and Corporate Intelligence Practice.
“This map is a really attractive visual tool that offers up some indispensable information about corruption and corruption accountability that will be readily accessible to local activists, lawyers, advocates, and scholars,” said Kenneth Hurwitz, senior legal officer for the Anticorruption Program of the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Additional FCPA developments highlighted on the map include:
- Nigeria has the most cases – 24 of them – as well as some of the largest penalties in the history of FCPA enforcement. Most of the cases in Nigeria are in the energy field.
- Energy payoffs have prompted one-half of all FCPA penalties meted out – approximately $2 billion in penalties out of a total of $4 billion since the law was passed in 1977.
- There are only a few FCPA cases in Russia and none in Ukraine, two countries ranked among the more corrupt in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Some of the allegedly most corrupt countries are blank on the map - no FCPA cases - including Sudan, Somalia, and Myanmar (all in Transparency International's bottom 10).
The FCPA Map can be accessed online at http://fcpamap.com/.
About The Mintz Group
The Mintz Group is a global investigative services firm that specializes in FCPA and integrity-related due-diligence on people and companies. Our expertise includes investigations in complex transnational disputes, and internal investigations related to fraud and corruption. Additional information on the Mintz Group is available at www.mintzgroup.com.