Here are some basic propositions that surround FCPA compliance. It is often underplayed that the FCPA contains more than just a bribery prohibition – the FCPA contains broad provisions, requiring accurate books and records...more
2/8/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ethics ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
White Collar Crimes
Trade compliance is the new hot field. Companies are catching up with trade compliance in response to the global sanctions regimes put in place to cripple Russia. The United States, its allies and partners have implemented...more
1/24/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Trade Relations ,
Ukraine ,
US Trade Policies
Contrary to the often-repeated narrative, the Justice Department is transparent about its enforcement plans and compliance expectations. Since the issuance of the FCPA Guidance in 2012, DOJ has continued to provide guidance...more
12/12/2022
/ 1MDB ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Russia ,
Uber ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
The ABB case, like most significant FCPA enforcement actions, sets important precedent and policy reminders. With time, and looking back, ABB gives companies with a prior criminal history a way forward to seek a fair...more
12/8/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Piling-On ,
South Africa ,
White Collar Crimes
In yet another indication of the renewed, aggressive antitrust enforcement program, the Justice Department recently announced the first attempted criminal monopolization case in decades — Nathan Nephi Zito, the president of a...more
It is easy to be dogmatic in blog postings — to express an unvarnished opinion that sounds valid. While it may not be supported by hard data or valid evidence, compliance officers are used to trusting their “gut feelings,”...more
Corporate culture is all the rage now, meaning it is an often used topic to signal commitment, sensitivity to issues of employee concern, and an awareness of governance trends. In practice, as we all know, culture is not...more
Chief compliance officers rely on several important sources for feedback — internal data and communications (reviews with board, senior managers, employees); and benchmarking against comparable organizations. An internal...more
This is a topic that every compliance professional has to address in one form or another. Chief compliance officers are so busy that they often cannot even take the time to tackle this difficult issue. This is a real...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district judge’s post-conviction dismissal of FCPA counts against Lawrence Hoskins, a former Alston executive, for his involvement in bribery scheme to secure a $118 million...more
For some reason, many companies do not include Ethics in the title of the CCO but expect the CCO to assume responsibility for a company’s ethical culture. Well, it is high time for companies to confirm this important...more
Chief compliance officers are visionaries. They define a vision with multiple objectives and then they execute on that vision. At all times, CCOs have to maintain that vision and adjust as circumstances change. By...more
Frankly, this is a topic that requires more than a single blog-post. Books and podcasts can be organized around this topic with helpful ideas and guidance. In this respect, I will try to synthesize some important ideas that...more
Chief compliance officers have a lot of issues to balance on their plate. Experienced CCOs know that it is not possible to complete every objective, balance every changing risk, and continuously improve their respective...more
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has decided to join the enforcement club. BIS’s recent announcement of new policies to administrative actions should not be surprising. ...more
There are lots of sources for compliance guidance — prosecutors, regulators, compliance organizations, and many others have set forth important and valuable guidance for the design and implementation of an effective ethics...more
Let me start with yet another profound grasp of the obvious — leadership requires many important interpersonal and intellectual capabilities. I do not intend to list the important ones right now but leadership requires an...more
CCOs, by definition, are careful and deliberate. It comes with the profession. As risk managers, CCOs are skilled in identifying, assessing and acting in a risk environment....more
6/30/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Certification Requirements ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
White Collar Crimes
The new DOJ Certification requirements certainly raise a number of new issues and risks for senior management and chief compliance officers. In Part I of this series, I outlined the specific language and the Plea Agreement...more
6/29/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Certification Requirements ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Global Market ,
Plea Agreements ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice continues to respond to the compliance community’s concerns about the new certification requirement adopted as part of the Glencore FCPA enforcement action. DOJ has adopted this new requirement to...more
6/28/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Certification Requirements ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Plea Agreements ,
Statutory Violations
In following the Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission FCPA enforcement actions, I am always reminded of the popular phrase — “reading the tea leaves.” (or “tasseography,” a fortune-telling method based on...more
6/8/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department has resumed FCPA enforcement with a bang. The new enforcement approach has been unveiled and the message for CCOs and corporate business leaders is clear — anti-corruption compliance should be a...more
6/6/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spoofing ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department has been promising a new, more aggressive approach to FCPA enforcement. DOJ officials have made statements to that effect on numerous occasions. The Biden Administration touted its elevation of the...more
The evolution in the global economy is raising challenges for anti-corruption compliance. In response to economic dislocations and disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine, businesses...more
5/26/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Ethics ,
Exports ,
Global Market ,
Imports ,
Military Conflict ,
Russia ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
It is easy to be overwhelmed by the overall risk profile of your third-party population. The best way to tackle the problem is by defining specific problems and risks and then analyzing a subset of third parties as to this...more