By Adam Turteltaub

Go back roughly twenty years and you wouldn’t find a country in South America that had corporate criminal liability laws. Today, though, the picture has changed dramatically.

Felipe Sottorff Araya (LinkedIn), a compliance consultant from Chile who recently moved to the US, reveals that half of the countries now have corporate criminal liability statutes, the latest being Colombia.

That doesn’t mean they all have the same laws. There are significant differences among the countries when it comes to triggers for corporate criminal liability. Some have adopted broad rules; others have taken a narrow route.

There are common elements, however. Bribery is treated as a corporate liability trigger throughout. In addition, the crime has to be committed to benefit the company.

Another common element: expectations for compliance programs. Each country follows the seven elements approach found throughout the world.

Listen in to learn more about the changing landscape of corporate criminal liability and also learn where organizations are most likely to fall short in their compliance efforts.