Its incredible how every business discussion these days centers on China. While the U.S. and Europe struggle to get things moving, China continues to dominate the world’s leading economic indicators. GNP. check. GDP. check. FDI. check.
As more U.S. companies shift production to China, competitive forces have upped the ante for businesses to deliver the best price points. Because of the hyper-competitive nature of Chinese sourced products, some companies either unwittingly or by choice engage in some questionable business maneuvering to gain even the slightest of price advantages.
Now more than ever U.S. enforcement agencies are keeping a vigilant eye on these suspicious business practices. Fun fact: The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission set a record in 2009 by bringing more FCPA prosecutions than in any prior year in the FCPA’s history. It looks like 2010 is going to be even busier for these folks.
A short but thorough overview of the FCPA as applied to China was recently published in BusinessForum China. The article is a good read for anyone with business activities in China. One point discussed in the article concerns the application of vicarious liability. This is where most U.S. companies run into trouble with the FCPA, so its important to consider the implications carefully:
U.S. authorities regularly apply vicarious liability theories to hold parents liable for the misconduct of their subsidiaries and agents. Not surprisingly, MNCs subject to the FCPA often unwittingly incur FCPA liability through the misconduct of their Chinese subsidiariesand agents, without ever operating in China themselves. Although non-US subsidiaries, including Chinese subsidiaries,are usually not directly subject to the FCPA, if the parent is a US corporation or issues US securities, and authorised the subsidiary’s illegal acts, the parent may incur liability. In one notable example, a US corporation agreed to pay a total of USD 22 million in FCPA penalties for, among other things, allegedly using its subsidiary to process payments to agents and Chinese officials associated with SOEs.
According to US authorities, even if the parent corporation does not explicitly authorise the illegal acts by the subsidiary, the parent may nonetheless incur liability if it was aware of and failed to stop the illegal acts (which may constitute implicit authorisation); if it acted with “wilful blindness” (being aware of a high probability that a bribe will be paid and taking steps to avoid learning that fact); or if it discovered the illegal acts after the fact and then accepted monetary benefits arising from such acts. Nor can the parent escape liability simply because it is a minority shareholder in a Sino-Foreign joint venture. If the parent corporation cannot control the actions of the joint venture, it is still obligated to object to illegal acts, take reasonable actions to prevent the joint venture from continuing future criminal activity, and refuse benefits arising from the same.
Because vicarious liability is the easiest way for a U.S. company to unwittingly trigger an FCPA investigation, it’s critical to keep track of what’s going on in the supply chains, particularly when one or more subs or agents are involved.
The way companies have handled this varies. Some use auditors in the host country and others send reps to oversee the whole thing.
How does your company handle this?
Trend to Watch: Look for 2010 to Be Another Record Year for FCPA Enforcement Actions.
-Santiago