Webcasts & Speaking Engagements
ACI's 17th Annual New York Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: An Inside Look at FCPA Accounting: What Every Compliance Executive and their Counsel Needs to Know
Lauren Randell spoke at the ACI's 17th Annual New York Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on Monday, May 18, 2015. She spoke on the Working Group presentation titled, "An Inside Look at FCPA Accounting: What Every Compliance Executive and their Counsel Needs to Know about the Books and Records and Internal Controls Provisions of the FCPA."
The accounting provisions of the FCPA are designed to complement the anti-bribery provisions by prohibiting “off -the-books” accounting and are at the forefront of many FCPA enforcement actions led by the SEC. The FCPA requires an issuer to devise and maintain a system of internal accounting controls, which provides reasonable assurances that transactions are properly authorized. The record-keeping and accounting standards apply to domestic operations, as well as to foreign operations; they are also the subject of SEC enforcement actions, even when the anti-bribery provisions are not met.
This practical and interactive workshop is designed to take you through the core principles of how companies “make and keep books, records, and accounts, which, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the issuer,” and the internal accounting controls necessary to ensure the reliability of this information.
- Defining “in reasonable detail”
- Understanding the basics tenants of the General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and how this is applied to the FCPA
- How to identify red flags and systematic patterns of bribery in your books and records
- A review of the key components of Section 13(b)(2)(b) of the Exchange Act, or the “internal controls” provision
- What is deemed a “reasonable assurance” to satisfy “prudent officials”
- How do effective internal controls address risk, types of products, geographical considerations, and the type of workforce
- Understanding the role of internal audit in FCPA compliance