As The Volkov Law Group previously noted in the context of a blog post authored by Michael Volkov, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”)—at the behest of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco—recently updated the requirements...more
Just to play devil’s advocate (or perhaps to push my agenda), I have conflicting views on corporate use of ephemeral messaging applications. On the one hand, I understand the importance of managing electronics communications...more
Honestly, I have been avoiding this topic since it presents a real morass of risks and potential traps for the unwary company and Chief Compliance and Chief Legal Officers....more
10/17/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Data Preservation ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Data Storage ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Communications ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
One thing you can count on — change. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but not to be too dramatic, we are at the precipice of some significant technology trends that will have a profound impact on corporate...more
10/12/2023
/ Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Compliance ,
Data Preservation ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Google ,
Internal Investigations ,
Popular ,
Regular Business Communications
As part of its continuing effort to encourage corporate voluntary disclosures, the Department of Justice announced revised voluntary disclosure policies applicable to mergers and acquisitions. In a speech at the recent...more
The Albemarle FCPA enforcement action was announced at a good time. This year has been a slow year for DOJ’s FCPA enforcement program, although there are several months before the end of the year. The SEC, on the other hand,...more
10/4/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Government Entities ,
Oil & Gas ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Relationships ,
White Collar Crimes
Albemarle’s bribery schemes look and sound like text-book examples of third-party agents being paid high commissions as a way to funnel bribery payments to foreign officials at state-owned oil refineries. However, as usual,...more
10/3/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Entities ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Relationships ,
White Collar Crimes
Albemarle Corporation (Albemarle), a specialty chemicals manufacturing company located in Charlotte, North Carolina, agreed to pay more than $218 million to settle FCPA investigations with DOJ and the SEC stemming from...more
10/3/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Forfeiture ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Oil & Gas ,
Penalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
The marriage of corporate enforcement and national security has been a defining feature of the DOJ under the Biden Administration. The Justice Department’s commitment to prosecuting corporate crimes that implicate national...more
The Justice Department has touted the upcoming wave of corporate prosecutions for criminal sanctions violation as the era of “The New FCPA.” DOJ’s reference is intended to communicate a strong message – companies are going to...more
9/12/2023
/ Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Goods or Services ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Sanction Violations
The Justice Department’s Opinion Release procedure has provided important guidance over the years. The library of Opinion Release letters is well-organized and accessible to the legal and compliance community....more
The Antitrust Division has been active – like any aggressive prosecution strategy, however, its results have been mixed. Its record in criminal cases has taken serious hits – a stunning set of losses in the chicken...more
8/30/2023
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apotex ,
Competition ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Generic Drugs ,
Indictments ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals
The SEC is having a good year in prosecuting FCPA cases. The SEC’s recent settlement with 3M Corp. for $6.5 million is its seventh corporate resolution for the year. DOJ, which has been relatively quiet so far this year,...more
8/29/2023
/ 3M Company ,
Anti-Corruption ,
China ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice has been relatively quiet this year in bringing corporate FCPA enforcement actions and settlements. Aside from the Ericsson breach of its Deferred Prosecution Agreement, the Corficocolombiana...more
8/15/2023
/ Bribery ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
In another significant step notifying global businesses of the new realities – companies are about to face aggressive coordinated criminal and civil prosecutions for sanctions and export control violations. The last piece in...more
8/11/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice has laid down a marker – companies would be smart to understand the significant change in ethics and compliance program expectations. Companies that ignore this new landscape are gambling with their...more
On July 13, 2023, U.S. prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Alexander Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of beleaguered Celsius Network LLC (“Celsius”) charging him with securities fraud, commodities fraud, and wire...more
8/1/2023
/ Commodities ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Platforms ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Indictments ,
Market Manipulation ,
Securities Fraud ,
Wire Fraud
We often read about lucrative bonus payments made to CEOs and other senior executives. With refinements in corporate governance structures, shareholders and investors are raising concerns over executive bonuses. To bring...more
The Justice Department’s recent revisions to its Corporate Enforcement Program and its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs stressed the importance of compensations systems and consequence management. The theoretical...more
Whenever new technologies emerge or new pots of government funds for assistance are available, you can count on one thing (as the sun rises and sets) – fraudsters will figure out a way to steal money from innocent persons and...more
7/5/2023
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Funding ,
Fraud ,
Healthcare ,
Investors ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Popular ,
Telehealth
Healthcare fraud continues to plague the industry – each year Medicare and Medicaid suffer over $100 billion in losses from fraudsters. Prosecuting fraud cases in the healthcare industry is like shooting fish in a barrel –...more
OFAC continues its enforcement push. At the same time, OFAC is managing a complex, global set of sanctions against Russia. DOJ has promised to increase prosecution of global banks for sanctions violations....more
6/21/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Crimea ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Know Your Customers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
In a relatively rare move for four (4) Cabinet-level Departments, the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justice, State and Treasury issued an advisory notice on June 9, 2023, aimed specifically at reminding industry of their...more
6/15/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drones ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ,
US Department of State
The Justice Department has made it clear that it intends to prioritize criminal prosecution of national security cases to prevent hostile nation-states from illegally acquiring sensitive U.S technology. To this end, DOJ...more
The SEC has been racking up several FCPA enforcement actions. DOJ appears to be declining many of these cases. The division of enforcement appeared to follow a pattern – on larger cases with more pervasive violations, DOJ...more