You can always learn a lot from reviewing the underlying conduct to an FCPA enforcement action. Chief compliance officers can identify specific risk factors, mitigation steps and root causes for bribery schemes.
...more
8/16/2023
/ Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Governments ,
Odebrecht ,
Public Projects ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Settlement ,
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
In late July 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted new rules requiring public companies to disclose cybersecurity incidents and cybersecurity governance policies and practice. The SEC largely adopted...more
Chief Compliance Officers are truth-tellers. It comes with the territory. Each and every CCO knows whether its internal investigation program is effective or not. There is not a lot of grey in this area – CCOs know what an...more
Corporate leaders know what to say and when to say it – for example, a CEO may state at an employee meeting, “We want to hear your concerns. We want you to bring these concerns forward and we will address them. We are...more
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
Each quarter, we send many of our clients a quarterly trade compliance update, highlighting important developments over the last few months and summarizing key points for important sanctions programs.
...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
On July 13, 2022, Judge Analisa Torres issued her long awaited ruling on the summary judgment motions in the SEC’s case against Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple”). The 34-page order provided a win for both the SEC and for Ripple...more
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
Among other things, on May 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a sweeping new set of restrictions that collectively operate to deter the Putin Regime from acquiring...more
We are all familiar with the mantra on the importance of managing third-party risk to prevent anti-corruption, sanctions, money laundering and associated risks. Over the last ten years, however, we have observed a new and...more
Bank of America joined the club of consumer abusers – Wells Fargo had been the well-established leader of this club and the poster-child for abusive consumer practices.
For years, Bank of America avoided federal...more
7/18/2023
/ Bank of America ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Cross-Selling ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
OCC ,
Overdraft Fees ,
Penalties ,
Popular ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
NAVEX’s annual report on the state of risk and compliance is a must read. Each year NAVEX supplies helpful insights that compliance professionals, corporate managers and board members can use to benchmark their respective...more
The term cybersecurity is thrown about because it covers so many risks. There is no common definition of cybersecurity and the technical elements included in the term. From a technical standpoint, cybersecurity covers...more
It is easy to get lost in the technology world of cyber security – the information technology business relies on lots of acronyms, techno-speak and function-specific terminology. In responding to a cyber and data security...more
If you read about the world of hackers and cyber threats, you will quickly become numb to the creativity and variety of techniques that may threaten your organization. Like all risks, however, the key is to consider...more
If you ask corporate board members and senior executives to list their number one risk (other than financial operations), the answer in today’s risk environment is clear – cybersecurity and data privacy. The rapid elevation...more
Looking back in time, the compliance field owes a lot to the healthcare industry. In the 1990s, there was a dramatic explosion in the industry in response to aggressive federal enforcement programs and increasing...more
NAVEX’s annual report on the state of risk and compliance is a must read. Each year NAVEX supplies helpful insights that compliance professionals, corporate managers and board members can use to benchmark their respective...more
7/6/2023
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Ethics ,
Harassment ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management
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
Corporate compliance programs in the healthcare industry include many of the same elements that we are all familiar with – risk assessments, code of ethics, written policies and procedures, comprehensive training...more
6/28/2023
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Data Privacy ,
Ethics ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Billing Codes ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Stark Law