AmCham partnered with BDO International for Anti-Corruption Compliance and Risk Management Master Class 2016, which was held on 28th April 2016 at Hotel Shangri-La, New Delhi. The event featured speakers from various parts of the world – U.S., Hong Kong, London, and India.

The first session, ‘Top Trends in Governmental FCPA and Anti-Corruption Enforcement and In-House Corporate Trends to Address Them,’ was moderated by Nidhi Rao, BDO, with speakers Vasu Muthyala, Principal, Kobre & Kim, Sunny Mann, Baker & McKenzie, and Mini VandePol, Principal, Baker & McKenzie. They discussed the various consequences of an FCPA violation that a company might face, the top 20 settlements so far in the history, the trends – cases and their penalties, the enforcement tends and guiding principles. There has been a consistent increase in reporting of such fraud cases and processes of dealing with it. They also mentioned how corporates are turning to technology to help manage growing and evolving compliance needs.

The second session, ‘Recent Cases Involving Third-Party Agents and Providing Due Diligence – Lessons Learned,’ was moderated by Nidhi Rao with speakers Priyanka Sharma Goswami, Partner, Dua Associates, and Vasu Muthyala, who addressed potential risks associated with third parties, what it means to be deliberately ignorant, willfully blind and a failure to keep proper records. They briefly discussed the popular cases of Louis Berger, Diageo, Pride and Wabtec Corporation. Potential risk factors of doing business in India were also touched upon and the due diligence required to deal with them.

In the third session, ‘Governmental Guidance and Best Practices for Corporate Compliance Programs,’ Anand Dayal, Partner, Koura & Co. and Mini Vandepol discussed the statutory guidelines to effective compliance. Mini discussed 5 essential elements of corporate compliance of Baker McKenzie in detail. They also mentioned some requirements under Indian law for the corporates to sustain better and how to do more with it.

The fourth session was entitled, ‘Leveraging Forensic Techniques and Data Analytics to Minimize Cost and Maximize Effectiveness,’ was moderated by Nidhi with speakers Aashish Gupta, BDO India and Mansi Mehta, BDO India, who discussed various forensic techniques available to minimize risk. They touched on using forensic techniques to detect anticorruption risk and investigate wrongdoing, using data analytics to improve detection and maximize in-house compliance resources, discussed some compliance audits and data analytics – trends , processes, challenges and examples.

The fifth session, ‘Best Practices for Managing Gifts and Hospitalities to Better Comply with the FCPA and Other Anticorruption Laws,’ was the most interesting session moderated by Aashish Gupta speakers Priyanka Sharma Goswami and Sunny Mann. The FCPA standards of gifts and hospitality and enforcement cases were mentioned. Some key factors governing this aspect of gifts were also discussed.

Overall, the master class was very well received with an interactive Q&A session. The speakers appreciated the platform and commended the participants on their receptiveness and willingness to share their experiences, a rare phenomenon in this industry and other forums