Outsourcing Law & Business Journal: June/July 2011
July 18, 2011 by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.
OUTSOURCING LAW & BUSINESS JOURNAL™ : Strategies and rules for adding value and improving legal and regulation compliance through business process management techniques in strategic alliances, joint ventures, shared services and cost-effective, durable and flexible sourcing of services. www.outsourcing-law.com. Visit our blog at http://blog.outsourcing-law.com.
Insights by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. Editor. www.biercekenerson.com.
Vol. 11, No. 4-5, June/July 2011
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1. Impact of UK Bribery Act, 2011 on Best Practices in Global Sourcing.
2. Bribery, Fraud and Contract Mismanagement: The SAIC / “CityTime” Debacle in New York City.
3. Indian Privacy Law.
4. Humor.
5. Conferences
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1. Impact of UK Bribery Act, 2011 on Best Practices in Global Sourcing. The package of documents for outsourcing contracts has grown to include a copy of the customer’s “code of conduct.” The service provider contractually agrees to respect the customer’s code of contract. Such codes of conduct pose tricky legal issues for both global business organizations and their service providers.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The “anti- bribery” component has roots in the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1974 (“FCPA”), the United Nations’ Code of Conduct for Multinational Corporations and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Public Officials in International Business Transactions. Like the U.S. FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act, 2010, prohibits businesses from bribing foreign officials. The Bribery Act becomes effective July 1, 2011.
This article provides a brief overview of the core, generic principles of such legislation and recommends “best practices.” For enterprise customers hiring service providers, such practices should apply regardless whether the immediate services are to be rendered outside the customer’s country. For service providers, such practices will not only facilitate getting hired, but also avoiding painful surprises. For more, click here.
2. Bribery, Fraud and Contract Mismanagement: The SAIC / “CityTime” Debacle in New York City. They said “it couldn’t happen here!” In late June 2011, it was time to account for a failed time accounting system. A federal prosecutor alleged a fraud that was “epic in magnitude, duration and scope” in the history of New York. New York City Mayor Michael Blumberg demanded the repayment of $600 million (plus costs of investigation and remediation) from Science Applications International Corp. “because the project was apparently tainted by fraud and kickback schemes.” How could this happen in a city managed by an IT-enabled technocrat? For more, click here.
3. Indian Privacy Law. India has finally adopted a privacy law. While it has its flaws, it is at least a good start. Prudent contract drafting will remain necessary to ensure best practices in global services. For a detailed analysis by a leading Indian law firm, click here.
4. Humor.
Bribery, n. (1) Unenforceable consideration for an invalid contract; (2) Incentive compensation; (3) cash management practice; (4) the price paid by a willing service provider and a willing customer, for services from the Dark Side of the Force.
5. Conferences.
September 20-22, 2011, SSON presents Finance Transformation 2011, Dallas, Texas. This conference is targeted to owners, controllers, procurement leads, sourcing strategists, shared services and global finance leads who want a complete view of transformation, incorporating holistic vision and operating strategy, end-to-end process optimizations, technology enablement, business performance management and sourcing strategy, whether that strategy is shared services, outsourcing or a combination of the two. Click here to get more information.
September 26-27, 2011, IQPC presents e-Discovery Oil & Gas, Houston, Texas. IQPC’s Third e-Discovery for Oil and Gas program is specifically tailored to address eDiscovery issues in the energy industry. The program features detailed case studies from Oil & Gas ProducersService Companies that have implemented eDiscovery practices that have lowered the cost and increased the efficiency of producing ESI. Panel presentations will discuss critical issues in eDiscovery from leading experts in the legal, information technology and records management sectors. For more information, click here.
October 5-6, 2011, Global LPO Conference, Los Angeles, California. Buyers and Vendors meet with the intention of easing the evolution of even more inventive measures to bridge the widening gap between the old style of doing legal business and the new that is brought on with the advent of the legal outsourcing industry. Hosted by KPO Consultants who already has organized three great conferences in New Delhi, London and New York City recently, the connoisseurs of legal and intellectual property (patents) outsourcing from around the world will shed light on many ongoing and unexpected new avenues and address any concerns. For more information, visit their website.
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