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Foreign-based companies that do not do business in the United States might understandably ask how the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“F.C.P.A.”) can impact them. The answer is unexpectedly and profoundly – if the foreign company becomes an acquisition target of a U.S. company.

As 2015 begins, it is no longer news to anyone that a U.S. company doing business abroad must have a robust anti-corruption and anti-fraud compliance program. An effective compliance program can prevent F.C.P.A. problems from arising or, if such problems do arise, reduce a company’s penalties. It is equally important to remember that the F.C.P.A. can have as significant an impact on a company’s merger and acquisition transactions as it can on its everyday operations. For that reason, a foreign company looking to partner with, or be acquired by, a U.S.-based entity, must make sure that its conduct does not adversely affect or jeopardize such efforts. Recent developments in 2014, as well as past history, illustrate this point.

The F.C.P.A. plays a significant role in mergers and acquisitions. An acquiring company is expected to conduct due diligence to ascertain the acquired entity’s F.C.P.A. compliance. If in the course of that due diligence, the acquiring company uncovers violations by the entity to be acquired, it is expected to disclose them and remedy them. Otherwise, it risks F.C.P.A. liability of its own. In guidance issued in 2012, the D.O.J. warned:

[A] company that does not perform adequate FCPA due diligence prior to a merger or acquisition may face both legal and business risks. Perhaps most commonly, inadequate due diligence can allow a course of bribery to continue—with all the attendant harms to a business’s profitability and reputation, as well as potential civil and criminal liability.