The Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Joe Biden is widely expected to increase its focus on white collar enforcement actions against individuals and financial institutions. We anticipate that we will see, as we did...more
On 23 October 2020, the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) updated its Operational Handbook, publishing a new chapter on deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) (the Chapter). This note summarizes key points from the Chapter and...more
On August 31, 2020, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), issued a memorandum to all executive departments and agencies on reforming regulatory enforcement...more
10/14/2020
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Best Practices ,
Burden of Proof ,
CFTC ,
Civil Liability ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
OMB ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Review
Though directed at prosecutors, the June 1, 2020, guidance on corporate compliance programs (Guidance) from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is a source of practical advice for in-house legal and compliance teams in...more
On July 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) jointly released the second edition of the “Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” which was...more
7/17/2020
/ Accounting Controls ,
Acquisitions ,
Co-Conspirators ,
Compliance ,
Conspiracies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Due Diligence ,
FCPA Resource Guide ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Instrumentality ,
Intent ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Mergers ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third Party Payments ,
Travel
On June 1, 2020, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released updates to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs guidance (Guidance), last revised in April 2019. ...more
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, provided for the establishment and expansion of a range of economic assistance programs designed to help...more
5/15/2020
/ Banks ,
CARES Act ,
Congressional Oversight ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Fraud ,
GAO ,
Government Investigations ,
Inspector General ,
Law Enforcement ,
Lenders ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
SBA ,
SIGPR
Although U.S.-China bilateral tensions eased to a degree earlier this year with the signing of an interim trade agreement, fundamental differences remained. These differences — such as the role that China’s industrial policy...more
4/2/2020
/ Bilateral Agreements ,
China ,
China Initiative ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Failure To Disclose ,
False Statements ,
Mail Fraud ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wire Fraud
On December 6, 2019, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson or the Company), resolved long-running investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the...more
1/3/2020
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Calculation of Penalties ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Corporate Investigations ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corporate Monitoring ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Failure to Comply ,
Fines ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Illegal Profits ,
Internal Controls ,
Penalties ,
Penalty Reductions ,
Pre-Judgment Interest ,
Public Contracts ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Remediation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Subsidiaries ,
Telecommunications ,
Third-Party Relationships ,
White Collar Crimes
As widely anticipated, French and U.K. regulators recently published guidance detailing their expectations for corporate cooperation in enforcement investigations. Both sets of guidance demonstrate further alignment of those...more
10/30/2019
/ AFA ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
CJIP ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Liability ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cross-Border ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Evidence ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
France ,
Individual Accountability ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Multinationals ,
New Guidance ,
Remediation ,
Sapin II ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
UK ,
United States ,
Work-Product Doctrine ,
Yates Memorandum
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including a review of the first year of GDPR enforcement, analysis of...more
10/3/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Appeals ,
Blocking Statutes ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
China ,
CLOUD Act ,
Communication Restrictions ,
Compliance ,
Conspiracies ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act 2019 (the COPO Act) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disclosure ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EURIBOR ,
Exports ,
Extradition ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Records ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
France ,
Fraud ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hackers ,
Hungary ,
Imports ,
India ,
Indictments ,
Information Sharing ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Israel ,
Lithuania ,
Money Laundering ,
Morrison v National Australia Bank ,
Multinationals ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Opioid ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Rate-Rigging ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Spoofing ,
Subpoenas ,
Swiss Supreme Court ,
Switzerland ,
Tax Crimes ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Treaty ,
Turkey ,
UK ,
United States ,
Venezuela ,
Wal-Mart
On March 8, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an important change to its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Corporate Enforcement Policy concerning one of the conditions — “appropriate retention of business...more
3/22/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Business Records ,
Commercial Electronic Messages ,
Communication Restrictions ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Document Retention Policies ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Employee Training ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Investigations ,
Mobile Apps ,
Multinationals ,
Record Retention ,
Remediation ,
Snapchat ,
Software ,
WhatsApp ,
White Collar Crimes
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including DOJ guidance on the use of corporate monitors in criminal...more
1/7/2019
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Appeals ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
BSA/AML ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cross-Border ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection Acts ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
FATCA ,
Financial Crimes ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Forex ,
France ,
Government Investigations ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Hackers ,
Imports ,
International Litigation ,
Iran ,
Legal Professional Privilege ,
Libor ,
Litigation Privilege ,
Market Manipulation ,
Money Laundering ,
Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation ,
Multinationals ,
NYDFS ,
Privileged Communication ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
SFO ,
Spoofing ,
Tax Fraud ,
Traders ,
UK ,
Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ,
Yates Memorandum
On November 29, 2018, in a speech at the 35th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the Department of Justice’s (DOJ or the Department) revised...more
In a decision with implications for the extraterritorial reach of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in United States v. Hoskins that a person may not “be guilty as...more
9/4/2018
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Appeals ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Non U.S. Person ,
Physical Presence Test ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including the use of legal holds in cross-border investigations,...more
8/29/2018
/ China ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cooperation ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Fee Reductions ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Personal Liability ,
Popular ,
Privileged Communication ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Settlement ,
Trump Administration ,
UK
On November 30, 2017, the Institut des Hautes Etudes sur la Justice (IHEJ) and Skadden hosted a roundtable at the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée in Paris to discuss new perspectives on the Sapin II Act and cross-border...more
12/22/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
CJIP ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corruption ,
Cross-Border ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
France ,
Guilty Pleas ,
HSBC ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Sapin II ,
Self-Reporting ,
Settlement
On October 4, 2017, Skadden presented the seminar “Government Enforcement Investigations – What You Need to Know in 2018.” Skadden partners Ryan Junck and Elizabeth Robertson, both based in London, moderated the panel...more
10/24/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Government Investigations ,
Sanction Violations ,
Sapin II ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Tax Evasion ,
UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
On July 12, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in United States v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. that a federal district court does not have the authority to supervise the implementation of a deferred...more
9/20/2017
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corporate Monitoring ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Executive Branch ,
Faithful Execution Clause ,
Financial Crimes ,
France ,
Judicial Authority ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Judicial Review ,
Plea Agreements ,
Public Access Laws ,
Sealed Records ,
Speedy Trial Act ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
On March 7, 2017, the United States announced that China’s Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. and their respective affiliates (collectively, ZTE) had agreed to a record...more
3/10/2017
/ Attorney General ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITAR ,
National Security ,
North Korea ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Plea Agreements ,
Sanction Violations ,
Settlement ,
Software ,
Telecommunications
On September 20, 2016, Skadden presented a seminar titled “Government Enforcement Investigations – Trends and Perspectives from the UK, US and China” in London. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Director of Enforcement...more
10/3/2016
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Investigations ,
Market Abuse ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Sanctions ,
Self-Reporting ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Whistleblowers ,
Yates Memorandum
On April 5, 2016, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Fraud Section made two related announcements in its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Enforcement Plan and Guidance. First, the Fraud Section announced a substantial...more
On September 9, 2015, the Department of Justice (the Department) publicly announced that it had issued guidance to its criminal and civil prosecutors that purports to change, at least in part, the Department’s approach to...more
9/16/2015
/ Civil Investigation Demand ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FIRREA ,
Government Investigations ,
Personal Liability ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Willful Misconduct ,
Yates Memorandum
Authorities in the U.S. continue to crack down on foreign financial institutions that have allegedly aided U.S. taxpayers in evading their tax obligations. On May 19, 2014, Credit Suisse AG pled guilty to conspiracy to aid...more
6/27/2014
/ Banks ,
Corporate Criminal Fines ,
Credit Suisse ,
Cross-Border ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fines ,
Investment Adviser ,
OVDI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Returns
Government enforcement efforts in 2013 produced major settlements of matters relating to the global financial crisis, high-profile insider trading convictions, near-record amounts of FCPA settlements, and new pledges of...more
1/29/2014
/ Compliance ,
Cross-Border ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FIRREA ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
IRS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Tax Evasion