Jay Rosen, “Mr. Monitor,” continues a series on suspension and debarment, discussing where these actions meet with FCPA enforcement.
Debarment may be based on actions so serious or compelling that it affects the present responsibility of the contractor or subcontractor. There is some fairly broad language as to what the basis for a suspension and debarment can be. This means that in the context of anti-corruption laws, it can be the basis of a suspension or debarment.
Under the FCPA, the conduct to incur a violation does not require actual bribery or corruption.
It can be bad recordkeeping associated with or the context of engagements with foreign officials – activity that would generally fall outside the realm of a public contract or subcontract. From the suspension and debarment perspective, it is critical to recognize here that the standard definition for contractor issues from the rule does not require that the entity actually have a contract in place.
In the context of suspension and debarment, they may have a contract or compete at some point for a contract to become a contractor – essentially any business activity that provides goods or services the federal government may be interested in acquiring potentially could fall within the definition of “contract.”
When one considers the FCPA,…
