Thank you for visiting Professor Mike Koehler's on-line classroom. Professor Koehler is a dynamic teacher who uses multiple learning devices to convey information and elevate the FCPA knowledge and practical skills of working professionals.

 

Professor Koehler's FCPA expertise is informed by a decade of FCPA practice experience at a leading international law firm during which he conducted FCPA investigations around the world, negotiated resolutions to FCPA enforcement actions with government enforcement agencies, and advised clients on FCPA compliance and risk assessment.
 

Professor Koehler's FCPA insights are further informed by having read and analyzed: the FCPA's entire legislative history, every FCPA enforcement action, every FCPA judicial decision, and other information and sources of guidance relevant to the FCPA.
 

Founder and editor of the award-winning FCPA Professor website which has been described as the "Wall Street Journal concerning all things FCPA-related" and “the most authoritative source for those seeking to understand and apply the FCPA,” Professor Koehler has testified before Congress on the FCPA and his work has been cited in judicial decisions, legal briefs, policy papers, Congressional testimony, and by the media.
 

Professor Koehler is the author of the books: "Strategies for Minimizing Risk Under The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act And Related Laws" and "The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a New Era."

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Since 2014, the FCPA Institute has elevated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act knowledge and practical skills of diverse professionals from around the world at leading companies and firms. Due to demand for FCPA knowledge and practical skills, in 2019 Professor Koehler launched the FCPA Institute Online for professionals who are unable to attend Professor Koehler's popular two-day in-person FCPA Institutes. The FCPA Institute Online thus represents a time and cost efficient way for in-house and outside counsel; compliance professionals; finance, accounting, and auditing professionals; business executives and others to elevate their FCPA knowledge and practical skills.

 

The FCPA Institute Online consists of over 12 hours of narrated instruction from Professor Koehler (as well as availability to answer questions) and guides professionals at their own pace through the following FCPA topics in an integrated and cohesive manner.

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• Why the FCPA became a law and what it seeks to accomplish;

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• How business organizations often become the subject of FCPA scrutiny and various realities of the global marketplace that often serve as root causes of FCPA scrutiny and enforcement;

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• A comprehensive understanding of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions and books and records and internal controls provisions including related enforcement theories;

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• The typical origins of FCPA scrutiny and enforcement including the prominence of corporate voluntary disclosures;

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• Facts and figures relevant to corporate and individual FCPA enforcement including how corporate settlement amounts are calculated and how DOJ and SEC enforcement policies and resolution vehicles impact FCPA enforcement;

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• Various practical reasons, as well as certain provocative reasons, for the general increase in FCPA enforcement in the modern era; and

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• How settlement amounts in an actual FCPA enforcement action are often only a relatively minor component of the overall financial consequences that can result from FCPA scrutiny or enforcement because of the FCPA's many other "ripples."

 

In addition to the above substantive knowledge, the FCPA Institute Online develops in-demand, practical skills to best minimize risk through:

 

• FCPA issue-spotting video exercises along with model answers;

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• Discussion of risk management strategies in a variety of areas such as gifts, travel and entertainment, and internship and hiring practices;

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• Discussion of risk management strategies relevant to third parties including pre-engagement, engagement, and post-engagement best practices;

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• Learning the fundamentals of conducting an FCPA risk assessment;

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• Learning how to effectively communicate FCPA compliance expectations; and

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• Learning FCPA compliance best practices in terms of structural organization, implementation, and monitoring including oversight responsibility and resources, internal reporting and investigation, and periodic assessment and continuous improvement.

 

At the end of the FCPA Institute Online, participants can elect to have their knowledge assessed and can earn a certificate of completion upon passing a written assessment tool. In this way, successful completion of the FCPA Institute Online represents a value- added credential for professional development.

 

It is suggested that the FCPA Institute Online should be viewed in the following order:

 

• The Story of the FCPA (40 minutes)

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• The Root Causes of FCPA Scrutiny and Enforcement (40 minutes)

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• The Anti-Bribery Provisions and Related Compliance Tips (3 hours and 30 minutes)

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• The Books and Records and Internal Controls Provisions and Related Compliance Tips (3 hours and 20 minutes)

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• FCPA Enforcement (2 hours and 30 minutes)

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• FCPA Ripples (1 hour and 10 minutes)