Professional football (or Soccer if you’re an American) club Manchester United plc has embarked on an impressive international expansion of its fan base the past several decades. The club currently claims 1.1 billion followers worldwide and is valued at $3.9 billion USD with a revenue of $770 million last year.
With such continued global business growth has come the need to adhere to numerous conduct risk management regulations, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the UK Bribery Act, and similar anti-corruption laws.
In a recent article in the FCPA Blog, the club acknowledged it was taking action toward ensuring compliance with all of these rules. However, it admitted employees, contractors and agents, and other third parties, could still very much pose the risk of non-compliance for the organization, and it was monitoring behavior by each closely.
“Any such violation, even if prohibited by our or our subsidiaries' policies and procedures or the law, could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition and the price of our . . . shares,” Manchester United was quoted as saying.
As such, and as it moves deeper into international markets, the club plans “significant management attention and financial resources," directed toward meeting current and emerging compliance requirements. Manchester United realizes doing so might not always provide the club with its desired revenue growth in certain markets.
For more information, consider reading the article in the FCPA Blog.
