The Justice Department continues its enforcement “silence” with no major corporate prosecutions announced this year. It is an interesting question but it appears that the wheels have ground to a halt, with one major...more
4/4/2022
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice criminal prosecution of Mark Forkner, chief technical pilot at Boeing responsible for the 737 Max, ended in quick acquittal. DOJ prosecutors suffered an embarrassing loss in an attempt to hold...more
3/29/2022
/ Acquittals ,
Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Aviation Industry ,
Boeing ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Jury Trial ,
Wire Fraud
The Justice Department continues to prosecute Russian-related crimes. Since the Ukraine Crisis, DOJ has steadily been announcing criminal charges against defendants connected to Russia. ...more
Keeping up with the Russia Sanctions and Export Controls is a challenge. Each day a new sanction or restriction is adopted with ripple actions by United States Allies and partners....more
3/18/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Luxury Goods ,
Military Conflict ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
In another action targeting Russian actors and connections, the Justice Department indicted Elena Branson, a dual United States-Russian national with criminal evasion of Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) registration...more
3/17/2022
/ Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Evasion ,
Foreign Agents ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Indictments ,
Lobbying ,
Lobbyists ,
National Security ,
Russia ,
Statutory Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
False Claims Act prosecutions continue against healthcare executives, physicians and professionals. Last year, DOJ recovered over $5.6 billion in FCA enforcement. DOJ expects total recoveries to increase in 2022. Over 95...more
3/10/2022
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Indictments ,
Stark Law
Even though the size of the KT Corp. SEC enforcement action is relatively small, the underlying misconduct provides a number of important lessons learned. ...more
2/24/2022
/ Bribery ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Political Contributions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Third-Party Risk ,
White Collar Crimes
When you look under the hood of FCPA enforcement actions, the schemes employed by corporate actors can be shocking. The “creativity” of bad actors can provide important lessons learned and help future investigators when...more
The SEC announced its first FCPA enforcement action in 2022. South Korean telecommunications company, KT Corporation, agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle FCPA violations. As part of the settlement, KT Corp. agreed to pay...more
2/22/2022
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Comply ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
South Korea ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
Even with the absence of any major DOJ FCPA enforcement actions, DOJ issued an interesting FCPA Opinion Letter last week addressing application of the FCPA in circumstances where organizations face imminent serious bodily...more
2/18/2022
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Detention ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Governments ,
Legitimate Business Purpose ,
Opinion Letter ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Vessels ,
White Collar Crimes
Federal prosecutors enjoy flipping through the United States Criminal Code, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq., to pick out tools to charge defendants. Over the last ten years, DOJ’s reliance on criminal charges in FCPA cases has...more
2/18/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
BSA/AML ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Code ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department trumpeted its criminal prosecutions against defendants charged with Libor-rigging. It had a right to toot its own horn. But many of these convictions have not withstood the scrutiny of appellate...more
2/8/2022
/ Appeals ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivatives ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Lack of Evidence ,
Libor ,
Mail Fraud ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud ,
Wrongful Conviction
Chief compliance officers have plenty of things to do and risks to manage. CCOs have a unique remit and a set of skills that should be applied whenever needed. While I am not trying to increase CCO workload (and forgive me...more
2/2/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Cartels ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Sherman Act ,
White Collar Crimes
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) has been a steady performer in this challenging pandemic environment. Since the pandemic, OFAC has maintained a strong profile, while managing a difficult...more
Ethics and compliance professionals believe in their mission – if they did not, they would not be in the field. E&C professionals believe in the power of positive thinking, ethical conduct, and in the overall ability of an...more
This was a strange year. Not just because of the continuing pandemic and economic disruption. The Biden Administration took over after an unusual and delayed transition. The apparatus of government was slow to transition....more
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control had another consistent year – not a big year but continued adherence to its enforcement program.
At the end of the year, OFAC announced a settlement with TD Bank...more
NatWest’s fraudulent “spoofing” schemes occurred in the primary and secondary markets for U.S. Department of Treasury Securities, including derivatives that tracked the prices of U.S. Treasury Securities for 5-year, 10-year...more
1/5/2022
/ Banks ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Derivatives ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Futures ,
Royal Bank of Scotland ,
Securities Transactions ,
Spoofing ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice secured a guilty plea from NatWest Markets, the newly-named Royal Bank of Scotland, for trade manipulation, referred to as “spoofing,” in U.S. Treasury markets. The NatWest resolution reflected new...more
1/5/2022
/ Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Futures ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Market Manipulation ,
Royal Bank of Scotland ,
Securities Fraud ,
Spoofing ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
When the Department of Justice warns businesses and individuals, everyone needs to listen and respond accordingly. Starting in 2016, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division warned businesses that the Antitrust Division...more
12/20/2021
/ Aerospace ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Indictments ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
No-Poaching ,
Outsourcing ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
White Collar Crimes
The new United States Strategy on Countering Corruption includes several important statements of interest to legal and compliance professionals. ...more
12/16/2021
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
White Collar Crimes
The Biden Administration’s new anti-corruption initiative is a significant commitment to the battle against global corruption. According to the Biden Administration, “[c]orruption is a cancer with the body of societies – a...more
The Biden Administration announced a new, comprehensive anti-corruption program, the United States Strategy on Countering Corruption. The new anti-corruption policy is the follow on to the earlier announcement elevating the...more
While we wait for the coming FCPA enforcement storm, DOJ and the SEC have quietly continued to rack up and resolve several enforcement actions....more
12/8/2021
/ Adoption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Odebrecht ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
FCPA practitioners, In-house counsel and compliance officers, and yes, even the FCPA Paparazzi, have been patient enough. As the saying goes, talk is cheap. It is action that counts....more