You may spend a lot of time thinking about internal investigations if that’s part of your job. But you may have never thought about what to do if your company was the subject of a bribery investigation, rather than the conductor of the investigation.

Are you ready for a “dawn raid”? If investigators swooped in tomorrow morning, looking for your company documentation, do you and, more importantly, does your staff, know what to do?

Dawn Raid Procedures

Every company should have in place “dawn raid procedures”, said Richard Wagner, Senior Partner at Norton Rose Canada, at the Invest Ottawa 45^th Circuit Presentation on Anti-Corruption and Bribery: The Compliance Challenge of Operating in the Global Government Procurement Market.

During his talk, in which he compared various bribery acts and offenses, he also outlined some of the most important things Canadian companies should think about when faced with a bribery investigation.

These should include specific procedures for receptionists, management executives and the legal department, he said. I’ve summarized some of the main points from his presentation below.

Start at the Entrance

At the very least, he advised, the receptionist should know to:

• Ask for identification
• Ask for a search warrant
• Request that officers wait in the reception area
• Call in-house or outside counsel immediately

You should have a company representative (in-house or external counsel) selected to deal with the lead officer in the investigation.

It’s important to review the search warrant so that you only disclose what you really need to, said Wagner. The warrant outlines the purpose and scope of the investigation, which allows you to ensure that officials examine and copy only those documents that are included in the investigation.

Cooperation is Key

When dealing with investigators in a bribery case, cooperation with the investigation shows that your company is serious about its obligations and compliance.

Wagner outlined a plan for cooperation that includes:

• Providing a meeting room for the officials
• Designating and briefing an IT person to assist officers
• Assigning a staff member to assist each officer
• Ensuring everyone is aware of their duty to cooperate, but that all questions of substance should be referred to the designated representative
• Prohibiting employees from tampering with or destroying paper or electronic documents

Take Precautions

Wagner also stressed that cooperation doesn’t mean automatic compliance with any request.  He also suggested the following precautions:

• Ensure non-relevant documents are not taken
• Separate out and do not disclose privileged documents (if disputed, seal and segregate)
• Keep a record of the investigation and what is being taken
• Debrief staff after the officers are gone
• Advise relevant persons that other surveillance may take place, such as wiretaps, etc.
• Create and implement an internal and external communications strategy

How Case Management Software Helps

If the evidence requested has been part of any internal investigations that the company has undertaken, and your company has been using case management software for investigations, all case files and related documentation can be quickly and easily found in one place. This may come into play when  proving that your company  was cooperative with the investigation, putting you in a better position if sanctions and fines are imposed.