Global companies have to conduct periodic audits of its high-risk third party partners. With the continuing pandemic, such audits have to be conducted remotely. As a result, companies face significant challenges in...more
The Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Resources Board announced a joint settlement totaling roughly $1.5 billion with Daimler AG and its US subsidiary Mercedes Benz to resolve...more
9/22/2020
/ California Air Resources Board ,
Clean Air Act ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
DaimlerAG ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Violations ,
Mercedes-Benz ,
Motor Vehicles ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
In the last five years, the Justice Department and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission have aggressively prosecuted “spoofing” cases. While the government’s record in these cases has been mixed, the government has...more
9/17/2020
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Market Manipulation ,
Popular ,
Price Manipulation ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Securities Violations ,
Spoofing ,
Traders ,
White Collar Crimes
Herbalife’s FCPA settlement is another one for books – the wreckage left includes two criminal indictments for Chinese officials who may never be apprehended, along with $123 million in penalties....more
9/3/2020
/ Bribery ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Herbalife ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Popular ,
White Collar Crimes
Herbalife’s bribery scheme in China stretched across the 28 provinces of China and even involved an Herbalife senior executive in its headquarters in Los Angeles, California. DOJ has indicted Yangling Li, aka Jerry Li, and...more
Teva, the global pharmaceutical giant, was indicted last week as part of DOJ’s expanding criminal conspiracy investigation focused on illegal price-fixing and customer allocations....more
9/1/2020
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Generic Drugs ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Price-Fixing ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals
World Acceptance Corporation (“WAC”), a US-based consumer loan company, agreed to pay the SEC $21.7 million for FCPA violations in Mexico. WAC’s cited violations covered the full gamut of FCPA violations, including bribery...more
World Acceptance Corporation (“WAC”), a US-based consumer loan company, agreed to pay the SEC $21.7 million for FCPA violations in Mexico. WAC’s cited violations covered the full gamut of FCPA violations, including bribery...more
8/11/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Mexico ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
White Collar Crimes
On May 1, 2020, Blue Bell pleaded guilty to shipping contaminated ice cream linked to a 2015 listeria outbreak and agreed to pay a fine of $19.5 million ($17.4 million criminal fine and $2.1 million to settle civil false...more
Bausch Health agreed to pay the SEC $45 million to settle Valeant Pharmaceuticals (former name) accounting fraud schemes.
Three former executives, former CEO Michael Pearson, CFO Howard Schiller and Controller Tanya Carro...more
It is hard to argue that Apple and Amazon do not have the resources to implement state-of-the-art OFAC compliance programs. After all, the two largest companies in the world should stand as beacons of compliance with the full...more
Steele Compliance Solutions recently announced the global rollout of its new “Risk Intelligence Data” platform. Companies are suffering from information overload -- with new technologies, companies can manage information to...more
The DOJ Antitrust Division’s multi-year criminal cartel investigation of the generic pharmaceutical industry is gaining steam. The latest company to settle is Taro Pharmaceuticals which agreed to enter a deferred prosecution...more
7/29/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Antitrust Division ,
Cartels ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Generic Drugs ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
White Collar Crimes
On July 2, 2020, DOJ and the SEC issued revised FCPA Guidance. The Revised Guidance continues to be a valuable document, which contains important discussions of relevant cases, DOJ and SEC policies, and enforcement...more
Novartis is the new poster-child of corporate misconduct. In the space of two weeks, Novartis settled domestic False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback violations for $729 million, and settled FCPA violations for foreign bribery...more
The Alexion Pharmaceutical SEC FCPA enforcement action represents another in the long line of enforcement actions against drug and device companies. The drug and device industries have been – and will continue to be — easy...more
7/10/2020
/ Alexion ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Notwithstanding the pandemic and remote working arrangements, the Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing to bring FCPA enforcement actions. In its latest action, the SEC settled with Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $21...more
At the outset, Novartis is “lucky” – the settlement is relatively positive, despite its 2016 SEC enforcement action in China. Given Novartis weak culture of compliance (if anything, a better description may be a culture of...more
7/1/2020
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Life Sciences ,
Novartis ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Senior Managers ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
Novartis and Alcon engaged in separate but significant bribery schemes. Considering the fact that Novartis had a similar violation in 2016 in China involving much of the same conduct, Novartis’ conduct reflects a weak...more
Even during this difficult time of the pandemic, economic uncertainty and social unrest, the Justice Department and the SEC have concluded a major FCPA enforcement action....more
Even during this difficult time of the pandemic, economic uncertainty and social unrest, the Justice Department and the SEC have concluded a major FCPA enforcement action.
Novartis and Alcon (which was a Novartis subsidiary...more
The Justice Department’s recent revisions to the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs highlights an important trend and evolution of prosecution focus. DOJ’s Revised Corporate Compliance Guidance recognized and...more
Boeing is still under investigation. A grand jury is investigating potential safety and obstructions allegations. Congressional investigations are continuing....more
Boeing Airlines was the leader in safety and financial success. Unfortunately, Boeing has suffered a significant fall from grace as a result of its 737 Max safety record and two devastating crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia....more
The Justice Department recently resolved two food safety criminal cases involving Blue Bell Ice Cream and Chipotle Mexican Grills. In its largest food safety recovery to date, Chipotle agreed to a three-year deferred...more