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News Article According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the SEC is investigating whether banks and private equity firms are violating the FCPA in their dealings with sovereign wealth funds. The report indicates that no specific allegations have been alleged, but that firms have been requested to retain documents and asked about their dealings with sovereign wealth funds. Publication Wall Street Journal Date January 14, 2011

FINRA RN 11-12 March 18, 2011 FINRA published a regulatory notice to remind firms of their obligations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The notice advises firms to review their business practices to ensure compliance with the FCPA, and notes that a failure to comply with the FCPA would be deemed a violation of FINRA Rule 2010 (standards of commercial honor and principles of trade). The notice provides a general overview of FCPA requirements and to what extent they apply to different types of broker-dealers. Cross References Exchange Act § 13(b) FINRA Rule 2010 CWT CF Memo, SEC

The SEC charged Texas-based medical device company Orthofix International N.V. with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when a subsidiary paid routine bribes referred to as "chocolates" to Mexican officials in order to obtain lucrative sales contracts with government hospitals. View press release in full here (links externally to SEC website). Additional Materials : SEC Complaint

SEC charged Oracle Corporation with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by failing to prevent a subsidiary from secretly setting aside money off the company's books that was eventually used to make unauthorized payments to phony vendors in India. View press release in full here (links externally to SEC website). Additional Materials: SEC Complaint . See also : August 14 news entry.

The Department of Justice and the SEC have issued updated guidance on the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The updated guidance is essentially an expansion of a prior Lay Person’s Guide, but now includes the elements and requirements of the FCPA, the standards of prosecution, and the opinion release procedures (which were previously published separately). Beyond that, the guidance lists useful hypotheticals that are representative of cases that have been the subject of prior enforcement actions in the past and also discusses the magnitude, and provides examples, of past