On December 3, Martin Weinstein, Chair of Willkie’s Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement Practice Group, moderated a panel at the American Conference Institute’s 37th International Conference on the FCPA that addressed third-party due diligence. The panel featured viewpoints from compliance executives at major corporations as well as outside counsel, and it included a lively discussion of questions, including:
- Why is third-party due diligence so important and how is it handled?
- How has COVID impacted due diligence and compliance programs?
- What has been the impact of recent SEC whistleblower awards on reporting wrongdoing through internal channels?
- What are the preservation challenges relating to employee use of platforms such as WeChat, WhatsApp and others?
- What is the outlook for the months ahead?
In framing the discussion, Mr. Weinstein provided an overview of how third parties are a major source of potential FCPA liability for companies, how costly FCPA investigations can be for companies, and the DOJ’s recently issued new guidance addressing, among other things, third party compliance programs. He also addressed root causes of third party problems and due diligence and investigations in the COVID era. Access his slides here.
Thank you to the panelists for their insights.
Panelists:
Stephanie C. Davis
Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer
Volkswagen Group of America
David Flavell
SVP, Deputy General Counsel
PepsiCo
Amy Schuh
SVP, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer
Cognizant
William D. Semins
Partner
K&L Gates LLP