Anti-corruption issues can undermine a merger or acquisition that otherwise would be successful on the economic merits.  Consequently, FCPA due diligence has become a critical component of overall M&A due diligence, and such diligence is not complete before comprehensive FCPA due diligence has been conducted on the target company.  But what constitutes comprehensive FCPA due diligence in connection with a transaction?  What high-level areas should acquirers or merger partners investigate?  What specific questions should they ask, and what should cause them to drill down and ask hard follow-ups?  Perhaps most importantly, what issues should cause a company to walk away from an otherwise meritorious transaction?  This checklist, drafted by Michael Gilbert and Mauricio España, partners at Dechert LLP, addresses these questions, and in the process, helps define the scope and increase the precision of transactional FCPA due diligence.  For more from Gilbert and España on this subject, see “Critical Steps to Take and Questions to Ask When Conducting Pre-Merger Anti-Corruption Due Diligence” (Aug. 8, 2012).