In this article, John Davis comments on the potential benefits companies can receive when cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission on FCPA enforcement matters. "In most of these [FCPA] cases, you're going to get...usually multiple information requests from the agencies," Davis said. "At minimum, cooperation means responding adequately to those information requests."

Providing information from other jurisdictions that the agencies might not be able to get themselves is another way to earn cooperation credit. Also, turning over results from any internal investigation or internal audit that may have been conducted will also go a long way toward earning a less-severe penalty, Davis added. "Are you helping the agency maximize its effective resources in terms of looking at these issues?" he said. "That would be appreciated by the agencies and seen as a key area of cooperation."