Origins & Parallels - The FCPA and U.S. Export Controls, Yesterday and Today, with Severin Wirz

Mike and Brent welcome author and compliance professional Severin Wirz to the pod to discuss his first book, Bribery Beyond Borders: The Story of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. They discuss with Severin his inspiration for writing the book (02:44), the book’s focus on the people and personalities involved in the events between 1975 and the 1977 passage of the FCPA (05:50), the political and geopolitical scandals that kept up the momentum for a law banning overseas bribery (06:59), what his research uncovered beyond the traditional FCPA origin story (10:49), the relevance of the Cold War to the FCPA’s passage—specifically how corruption by capitalists fed into Communist propaganda (12:39), how the political “sausage” was made (16:33), stories of personal courage and risk-taking that made the FCPA possible (18:27), the use of the phrase “post-Watergate morality” as a critique of the FCPA and other reform efforts (21:48), how anti-corruption laws actually help American companies competing for business overseas (29:21), where the FCPA stands today (31:17), and how corruption is a social construct that, to paraphrase former federal appellate judge and author himself John Noonan, to exist as a legal concept must first exist in the minds of everyday people (35:40).Mike and Brent then conclude with another installment of Brent Carlson’s “Managing Up” (38:14).Bribery Beyond Borders: The Story of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act—Learn more at Corporate Compliance Insights here: https://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/bribery-beyond-borders-fcpa-severin-wirz/Available at Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Bribery-Beyond-Borders-Foreign-Practices/dp/1735028592 More about Severin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/severin-wirz-3574b574/Contact Brent: [email protected] Mike: [email protected]