International Regulatory Enforcement (PHIRE)
The Trend Continues: As Outward Bound Investments from Japanese Multinationals Continue to Grow, So Do ABAC Compliance and Other Enforcement Risks
June 24, 2020
Gary Giampetruzzi , Jessica Montes, Rakan Ghubej & Kyrsten Ponturo
In 2016, we advised Japanese multinationals that their growing significance in the global economy, primarily as a key source of outward bound investment and merger & acquisition (“M&A”) activity, translated into growing anti-bribery, anti-corruption (“ABAC”) compliance and other enforcement risks. In that article, found here, we detailed booming economic activity alongside significant then-recent enforcement activity against Japanese multinationals by the U.S. government, primarily under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) but also the U.S. Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”), for activities in major targets of Japanese outward bound investment—the U.S., China, and emerging Asia markets such as Vietnam. In particular, the May 2016 $646 million mega-resolution with Olympus Corp. for FCPA and AKS violations (to this day still the largest medical device company and AKS resolution of all time) constituted a foreboding example of economic expansion without sufficient compliance controls. Consequently, we advised Japanese multinationals to take a proactive approach to ABAC compliance.