Combating Bribery North of the 49th: A Wake-Up Call for Companies Doing Business in Canada

Legislatures around the world have passed laws prohibiting bribery of foreign public officials.  The FCPA has received significant public attention due to a number of high-profile prosecutions.  However, the Canadian equivalent to the FCPA – the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA) – historically has not been a significant concern for businesses with a connection to Canada.  But this is changing.  In the face of mounting international pressure, Canadian authorities have sent the message that they will enforce Canadian anti-corruption laws and pursue significant penalties against companies that have provided bribes to government officials.  In a guest article, Mark Morrison and Michael Dixon, partner and associate, respectively, at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, outline the substantive elements of the CFPOA with a view to comparing and contrasting Canada’s foreign anti-corruption scheme with the FCPA, and comment on Canadian enforcement trends, which have escalated in recent times, and which the authors expect will continue to increase.

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