Welcome to The FCPA Report

We are launching The FCPA Report because the stakes are too high not to.  If you are reading this introductory note, you already know that FCPA enforcement is on the upswing, that sanctions can be draconian and that ambiguity is the order of the day.  Some areas of law – tax, for example – look hard at first, but get easier with diligent study.  (Easier, though never easy.)  The FCPA is the opposite: it looks straightforward at first blush, but the closer you get, the more confusing it becomes.  The same broad statutory proscriptions mean different things in different industries and different geographies; authoritative guidance is hard to come by; and experience, custom and practice play an unusually large role in assessing the legality of business conduct.

In short, the FCPA is uniquely well suited to our particular approach to content.  In fact, the FCPA in 2012 looks much like hedge fund law in 2008 – shifting, underserved and mission-critical.  We responded to those dynamics in 2008 by launching the Hedge Fund Law Report (HFLR) to fill the information void with what we call “expertise-based journalism” – a hybrid of proprietary legal expertise and rigorous reporting.  And that formula has added real, identifiable value for HFLR subscribers.  On more occasions than we can count, we have heard from subscribers that something they read in the HFLR – and that they did not learn from any other source – enabled them to avoid a major, potentially catastrophic, mistake that they otherwise would have made.  On the upside, subscribers routinely report that insights in the HFLR have led directly to revenue, for example, by illustrating – point by point – best practices in operational due diligence.

The FCPA Report will take the same approach to anti-bribery law that the HFLR takes to hedge fund law – combining domain expertise with deep research and reporting to yield “actionable” insight, insight that actually changes your day-to-day decision-making for the better.  Mechanically, we will publish an issue every two weeks.  Each issue will contain articles on the most pressing subtopics under the general topics of the FCPA and global anti-bribery law.  In the course of an annual subscription, you will learn something you did not know – probably many things: facts, insights, angles, frameworks, best practices, etc.  In all likelihood, you will read something that changes the way you do your job.

We are in the business of bringing clarity to complex legal areas, and we approach the law from a business perspective, as it were, the “general counsel” perspective (although many of our current and anticipated subscribers are business-minded lawyers at law firms).  We care about legal questions inasmuch as they have direct bearing on the bottom line of your business, we work relentlessly and we talk to everybody in the field.  The results are “law reports” that are integrated into your professional activities – tools with consequences every bit as tangible as a carpenter’s hammer.

We are thrilled to be publishing the first issue of The FCPA Report today.  Have a look, please, and let us know what you think.  We will continuously adjust our specific approach based on feedback while always holding tenaciously to our core principles: quality, relevance, depth, accuracy and editorial independence.

Best regards,

The Law Report Group

 

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