business
Exploring Business Opportunities in
New ‘Foreign’ Markets?
“Reasonable” Due Diligence in the
Pursuit of Regulatory Compliance
Companies doing business or looking to do business in foreign countries need to “know” their third parties and also “prepare” themselves
to do business ethically and within
the confines of foreign legal due
diligence requirements. Heightened
enforcement surrounding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other
similar legal provisions around the
world, as well as the risks associated
with an increasingly global business
environment necessitate this. Achieving this end efficiently and effectively
is not easy, especially when trying to
do so in the increasingly complex
legal landscape of laws and professional regulations that often differ by
country. Demonstrating proper investigative process and duty of care
in vetting third-party intermediaries
is critical to both achieving regulatory compliance and securing your
company’s financial & reputational
bottom line.
38 iF Magazine | August 2016
Due Diligence
When exploring potential third-party business relationships, companies
must be equipped with relevant and
timely intelligence to make strategic
business decisions. If you are looking
to enter new foreign markets, then
you need preemptory due diligence
expertise in preparing your firm to
do business and investigative 3rd party due diligence expertise in evaluating the companies you are planning
to do business with. Combining a
global presence with local knowledge
that enables clients to make well-informed business decisions. Look for a
fixed-scope, fixed-cost due diligence
services with predictable timelines
that support a risk-based due diligence approach to third party management.
Access Your Business Risk
Businesses must assess the risk of
FCPA violations Some questions to
consider are:
• What kind of business does your
company do?
• Do you conduct business through
your own employees, through
agents, distributors and intermediaries, through joint ventures- all of
the above?
• Do you need to get permits or
qualify products for sale? Do you
ship through freight forwarders and
use customs agents?
• Do you deal with universities, or use
professors in an advisory capacity, or
deal with doctors or hospitals?
• In many countries education/
healthcare are government run and
all employees, including doctors
and professors, are government officials under the FCPA.