The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is found in 15 U.S.C. Section 78dd-1. FCPA applies to issuers of registered securities, officers, directors, employees, and agents of issuers. It applies to prohibited conduct that occurs anywhere in the world. All publicly-traded companies are required to abide by its rules and regulations.
These rules and regulations prohibit bribery of foreign officials and mandate that accurate books and records are kept so it is possible to determine if transactions are executed and assets accessed only with authorization of management. FCPA was passed after the Watergate political scandal when the SEC discovered more than 400 companies throughout the U.S. had secured overseas business by paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes.
Both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are responsible for the enforcement of FCPA. The SEC has a specialized unit to ensure the accounting transparency provisions are complied with. The Department of Justice works together with the International Corruption Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service