Regulatory Investigations

Regulators worldwide have stepped up their scrutiny of corporations’ domestic and overseas operations and business development efforts, with an invigorated focus on bribery, kickbacks, anti-competitive behavior and “pay-to-play” schemes involving governments.

Recent cases and record fines for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) – and new regulatory regimes including the UK Bribery Act – have highlighted that corruption exposure continues to be a major risk for international businesses.  Kroll’s unmatched investigative capabilities, worldwide presence and long-standing reputation for independence and integrity make us uniquely qualified for resolving regulatory concerns.

What sets Kroll apart is our broad range of services, global resources, the backgrounds and experience of our professionals, and our ability to assist clients by independently identifying the salient facts of a matter, enabling our clients to address and resolve sensitive, complex regulatory problems.  Working with clients and their counsel in a multitude of industries and geographies, Kroll conducts investigations into alleged violations of laws, allegations of bribery and financial mismanagement including kickbacks, money laundering, internal control lapses and other financial improprieties.

During the past 40 years, Kroll has developed a reputation for credible and accurate fact-finding.  Combining the skills of our traditional investigators with forensic accountants and electronic discovery and computer forensics teams, Kroll’s independent fact finding allows legal counsel to advocate from a perspective that is separate from the investigative process.  Many of our investigations have occurred in the context of parallel regulatory or civil proceedings.  More often than not, our findings have brought closure to the issues in dispute.

Case Study:  FCPA Compliance Program for Medical Supply Company in Latin America
On behalf of a leading pharmaceutical and medical supply manufacturer, Kroll conducted a risk-based analysis of the company’s FCPA compliance program as it related to its over 400 third-party distributors in Latin America.  Based on our analysis, Kroll designed and implemented an FCPA integrity program, which included public records due diligence on each of the distributors, a risk analysis and ranking of the distributors, and an in-person FCPA training course.

Case Study: Investigation into Auditor Independence
Kroll was retained by outside counsel to the Audit Committee of a publicly traded financial institution which had received notice from a regulatory body that the institution’s relationship with its outside audit firm was being investigated for potential violations of auditor independence rules under the Sarbanes Oxley legislation.  Kroll conducted a four month investigation into the relationship, including interviews with senior-level management and dozens of other current and former employees of the financial institution and the outside audit firm.  In addition, Kroll reviewed approximately 30,000 pages of potentially relevant documents.  Kroll submitted its final report to counsel for the Audit Committee, who in turn presented the findings to the regulatory body.  The regulatory body has declined to conduct its own investigation into the facts surrounding the alleged independence violations.

Case Study: Investigation into Global Network Vendor
Kroll was retained by a telecommunications company which had just announced a joint venture with another telecommunications firm.  Following the announcement, the joint venture partner became the subject of a worldwide corruption investigation by numerous regulators.  Kroll was retained to investigate the companies and principals which comprised the partner’s global vendor network.  Deploying Kroll professional staff in Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America, Kroll developed comprehensive intelligence that enabled the client to accurately assess its partner’s exposure to criminal prosecution, properly evaluate the joint venture and make informed judgments about personnel and business plans.