The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is a US federal law enacted in 1977 prohibiting US companies, US-listed companies and any company with US connections from bribing foreign government officials to obtain or retain business. Its extraterritorial reach makes it one of the most powerful anti-corruption tools globally: it applies to any company with a US nexus — a US bank account, a US server, a US-listed parent, or processing a transaction in US dollars. In international M&A, FCPA risk is critical: a US acquirer can inherit pre-acquisition violations, with potential fines reaching hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Example: in the acquisition of a Swiss company active in Africa and Southeast Asia by a US group, a specific FCPA compliance review is conducted during due diligence. Analysis of third-party agent payments reveals CHF 1.8 million of undocumented commissions in high-risk jurisdictions — leading to negotiation of specific representations and warranties and a dedicated escrow of CHF 2.5 million for FCPA-related liabilities.

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Hectelion integrates FCPA compliance review into due diligences for transactions involving US acquirers or operations in higher-risk markets.