Investigations Foreign and Domestic: Choice-Of-Law and Discovery
Internal investigations with international reach are now more common than ever, as corporations become increasingly multinational and enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)' in the United States continues to rise. In 2010 alone, the Securities and Exchange Commission collected $1.8 billion in FCPA fines.' In just the last few months, U.S. regulators have announced FCPA investigations and settlements with corporations that included Deere & Co., Johnson & Johnson, and Tyson.' On the other side of the Atlantic, the European Union's (EU) European Commission has aggressively investigated alleged violations of EU antitrust laws by U.S. companies, including Microsoft, IBM, and Google.