In this podcast, James Tillen and Marc Alain Bohn* discuss their April Law360 article, "Evaluating FCPA Pilot Program: Declinations on the Rise," in which they reviewed the state of the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) declinations after one year of the agency’s enforcement Pilot Program, which sought to promote greater accountability for companies and individuals who violate the FCPA, while rewarding those who voluntarily self-disclose violations and cooperate with investigations and remediation efforts. "I think the DOJ has viewed [the Pilot Program] as successful. They have been more transparent in some of these declination decisions – not all – but there's been a few public releases on the declinations, which has been particularly helpful to see the reasons, to confirm that they are true declinations," Tillen said. "The fact that the pilot program does provide some clear statements regarding the benefits of voluntary disclosure, of cooperation, of mediation – it has been helpful to use with clients to allow them to make more informed decisions about voluntary disclosure." Noting that Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Trevor McFadden stated recently that the DOJ is conducting a "full assessment" of the Pilot Program while it proceeds in the interim, Bohn said "I do think there are some companies, that despite the Pilot Program continuing to be enforced, are still in a 'wait and see' approach with the new administration, waiting to see how things shake out."

*Former Miller & Chevalier attorney