Policies and Procedures on Charitable Donations - a podcast by Thomas Fox

What should your compliance policy and procedures on charitable donations look like? What should you prohibit or even caution against? The starting point is the 2012 FCPA Guidance regarding charitable donations. The information on the red flags from the Opinion Releases and the best practices, as set out in the 2012 FCPA Guidance, have been available for some time. From the Schering-Plough and Lilly enforcement actions, your policy should consider the timing of charitable donations to see if they are at or near the time of the awarding of new or continued business. Finally, in managing the relationship, you now need to look at overall increases in sales to determine if they are tied to a pattern of charitable donations. By looking at the timing and quantum of charitable donations, internal audit may be able to ascertain that a spike in sales is tied to corrupt conduct.
Three key takeaways:

What are the basic inquiries to make around charitable donations?

Use all of the communication tools the DOJ has provided; written guidance, enforcement actions and Opinion Releases to inform your charitable donation policy.

“Document, Document, and Document” the basis of your charitable donations risk assessment.

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