In the US, the DOJ’s Policy on Coordination of Corporate Resolution Penalties “encourages coordination among [DOJ] components and other enforcement agencies when imposing multiple penalties for the same conduct.”¹  The goal of the policy is “to enhance relationships with [DOJ’s] law enforcement partners in the United States and abroad, while avoiding unfair duplicative penalties.”²  This policy is a continuation of an effort that included the creation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1997.  Since that time, foreign governments have increasingly investigated and prosecuted public corruption matters and shared information with the DOJ and SEC about those investigations.

The SFO has set out that it aims to work collaboratively with overseas partners, such as the US Department of Justice, on matters where there is a common interest.  DOJ staff are seconded to the SFO in order to improve cooperation between the agencies.  Lisa Osofsky, formerly deputy general counsel to the FBI, was appointed Director of the SFO in September 2018 and has set out her view that cooperation with international partners will be key to the success of the SFO in the coming years. 

France has a strict blocking statute imposing criminal sanctions on parties that request or send documents or information for evidentiary purposes with a view to or in the context of foreign judicial or administrative proceedings without complying with, in particular, international instruments addressing the transmission of evidence from France to another State;  

Although the blocking statute is rarely enforced, recent reform projects have shed light on the need for more credible enforcement of the statute in order to provide a clearer evidence transmission regime, whilst limiting extensive evidence-gathering operations.

¹ Rod J. Rosenstein, Deputy Att’y Gen., DOJ, Remarks to the N.Y.C. Bar White Collar Crime Institute (May 9, 2018), available here.

² Rod J. Rosenstein, Deputy Att’y Gen., DOJ, Remarks to the N.Y.C. Bar White Collar Crime Institute (May 9, 2018), available here.