Congratulations to Matt Ellis on the publication of his book, The FCPA in Latin America: Common Corruption Risks and Effective Compliance Strategies for the Region. As Latin America experiences a historic anti-corruption wave, the book highlights the often-overlooked role of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). For years extraterritorial application of the FCPA by U.S. officials to companies, individuals and schemes in Latin America led to penalties in the United States for conduct largely occurring in the region. The mere threat of FCPA enforcement has prompted people working in the region to embrace anti-corruption compliance norms. Matt’s book takes a regional and cultural approach to FCPA compliance and enforcement matters in an effort to better understand the major anti-corruption shifts occurring in the region. He explains how American companies often confront cultural, historical, geographical and language barriers when implementing FCPA compliance programs with their neighbors to the south, and provides advice for navigating these challenges. The book focuses on one of the most challenging and cutting-edge aspects of FCPA compliance, and an area for which little has yet been written: crossing cultural barriers to make compliance strategies effective. Matt explores the nature of unique corruption risks as well as proven strategies to bridge cultural divides that often make compliance difficult to successfully implement on the ground. Matt, who is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, has years of experience working on these issues in various parts of Latin America. He is a partner at Miller & Chevalier in Washington, D.C.

Congratulations also to Cai (Boldt) Pandolfino, who recently was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by Moffly Media’s annual Women in Business event at the Greenwich Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. Cai and husband Jeff founded Green & Tonic, a plant-focused restaurant chain with locations throughout Connecticut—Cos Cob, Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan and Westport. Check it out at greenandtonic.com.

Hope everyone’s summer is off to a great start. Please send me your news.

—Jason Casell, 10106 Balmforth Lane, Houston, TX 77096; jhcasell@gmail.com