Corruption is a widespread problem that affects both political and economic development throughout the world. This course will look at how corrupt politicians and corporations seem to steal with relative impunity and what mechanisms are available to address and solve this problem. Specific areas of focus include: understanding what is meant by corruption and politically exposed persons (“PEPs”), understanding how offshore secret financial havens work, becoming familiar with enhanced legislative efforts with extraterritorial reach like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the UK Bribery Act, understanding efforts that are underway to recover and return stolen assets, becoming familiar with state-sponsored efforts to address petty corruption, and understanding how organizations can protect themselves from running afoul of new laws designed to prevent corruption.

By the end of the course students will be able confidently claim that they understand compliance with the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act, the asset recovery process (Chapter V of the UN Convention against Corruption), and the risks of working with politically-exposed persons (PEPs).