In June 2025, two former executives were each sentenced to more than three years in prison for conspiracy and failure to report hazardous products to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC"), marking the first...more
7/15/2025
/ Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) ,
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Executives ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Report ,
Goods or Services ,
Penalties ,
Product Defects ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management
In response to President Trump's February 10, 2025, Executive Order pausing DOJ FCPA enforcement (the "Executive Order"), on June 9, 2025, the DOJ issued new guidelines (the "Guidelines"), which prioritize the enforcement of...more
6/18/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Agencies ,
National Security ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
On May 12, 2025, the Department of Justice Criminal Division announced significant changes to its corporate white-collar criminal enforcement priorities. In line with the Trump administration’s recalibration toward...more
On March 20, 2025, the UK's Serious Fraud Office ("SFO"), France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office ("PNF"), and the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland ("OAG") announced the creation of a new task force to...more
3/31/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
France ,
Government Agencies ,
International Trade ,
Joint Task Force ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Switzerland ,
UK
The Situation: After President Trump issued an Executive Order ("EO") that creates a process to designate international cartels and other organizations as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" ("FTOs") or "Specially Designated...more
3/3/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cartels ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Terrorist Organizations ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
On February 10, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") by the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") for 180 days and ordering Attorney General...more
On January 14, 2025, China's State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR"), the primary regulatory agency in China for overseeing market supervision, issued its Compliance Guidelines for Health Care Companies to Prevent...more
1/30/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Corporate Governance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Healthcare ,
Life Sciences ,
Medical Devices ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management
Each year, the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and in recent years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") dedicate substantial resources to investigating and...more
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement has yet to rebound from the immediate pre-pandemic period. In 2022, DOJ and SEC resolved eight corporate FCPA matters for $878 million, including four resolutions coordinated...more
3/3/2023
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Biden administration took office in January 2021, announcing aggressive and sweeping anticorruption initiatives to tackle corruption around the world, labeling corruption a national security priority, and signaling a...more
1/28/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
Introduction In the first 10 months of the Biden administration, senior DOJ officials have signaled a renewed focus on corporate criminal and civil enforcement against companies and individuals. ...more
On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued a memorandum declaring anticorruption efforts to be "a core United States national security interest" and announcing a plan to "significantly bolster" anticorruption enforcement. While...more
6/22/2021
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Biden Administration ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Financial Crimes ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Interagency Guidance ,
Money Laundering ,
National Security ,
Strategic Planning ,
White Collar Crimes
In 2020, the biggest Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) headline was the record-shattering global anticorruption enforcement fines and penalties collected by foreign regulators in actions involving a coordinated FCPA...more
1/13/2021
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Biden Administration ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
In the third year of the Trump Administration, the biggest Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") headlines were record corporate fines and penalties, and a banner year of individual FCPA enforcement highlighted by three DOJ...more
2/5/2020
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Under the second year of the Trump Administration, the biggest story was the increase of corporate declinations one year after the DOJ adopted a permanent FCPA policy incentivizing self-disclosure, cooperation, and...more
1/16/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Self-Reporting ,
Subsidiaries ,
Trump Administration ,
White Collar Crimes
The Situation: Anticorruption legislation passed by French lawmakers in 2016 authorizes the resolution of a corruption matter by means of a "convention judiciaire d'intérêt public" ("CJIP"), the French version of a deferred...more
4/30/2018
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
CJIP ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Liability ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
European Court of Human Rights ,
France ,
French Supreme Court ,
Sapin II
The Situation: Companies that learn of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") violations by employees or agents are faced with significant uncertainty as to whether the benefits and risks of self-disclosing the conduct to the...more
12/5/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Remediation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes