Corruption Crime & Compliance

The General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 ("GDPR") was a watershed moment in data and privacy compliance.  The new law and regulations applies to all companies and persons within the European Union and the European Economic Area.  Since its effective date, May 25, 2018, enforcement of the new law has begun.  In the first year, compliance and enforcement practitioners have identified importan...

The corporate world has been rocked by major governance failures surrounding #MeToo incidents and complaints.  Recently, Google suffered global walkouts by employees who were upset by Google's payment of lucrative severance packages to senior executives forced to resign because of sexual misconduct issues, and a culture of sexual misconduct that included 48 sexual misconduct incidents resulting in...

Companies involved in export and import activities face a variety of risks from sanctions and export controls created by a complex maze of regulations and oversight from the Department of State, Department of Treasury and the Department of Commerce.  With the increasing complexity of sanctions regimes, companies have to devote significant attention and resources to implement an effective trade com...

Global prosecutors and regulators continued to increase anti-money laundering enforcement and regulatory actions.  Global and US regulators have increasingly focused on beneficial ownership and transparency requirements.  In 2018, FinCEN's Customer Due Diligence rule went into effect. US prosecutors also brought several significant AML criminal prosecutions against large banks; the SEC has increas...

The Justice Department reported its 2018 fraud statistics showing $2.8 billion in recoveries under the False Claims Act.  While this number is staggering, fiscal year 2018 recoveries were down from than $500 million from fiscal year 2017.  Nonetheless, companies in the healthcare, defense and financial industries continue to face significant False Claims Act risks. In this episode, Michael Volkov...

Companies involved in the export and import of defense products and services face significant risks surrounding compliance with the International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) statute and regulations.  The US State Department's Directorate of Defense Control (DDTC) tightly regulates the defense industry and aggressively enforces ITAR rules and regulations. In this episode, Michael Volkov interviews Colle...

The SEC and the Justice Department closed their respective 2018 books with resolution of three separate enforcement actions: Polycom, Eletrobras and Two Former Officers of Panasonic Avionics. In this episode, Michael Volkov reviews and discusses important lessons learned from these three separate FCPA enforcement actions.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control ("OFAC") had a busy year -- the first half of 2018 was dedicated to re-imposing the Iran Sanctions Program and updating the Russia Sanctions Program. In the second half of the year, OFAC resumed its pace for enforcement actions. In this episode, Michael Volkov reviews OFAC enforcement actions and sanctions regulations for 2018.

In 2018, ethics and compliance professionals continued to innovate and push for compliance program enhancements. in response to growing demand, compliance industry vendors helped to implement new and innovative tools for use in compliance programs. In this episode, Michael Volkov reviews ethics and compliance trends and developments during 2018 and outlines predictions for the upcoming year.

The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission had another strong year in FCPA enforcement. The numbers for 2018 tell a compelling story. In this episode, Michael Volkov reviews FCPA enforcement for 2018 and makes predictions for the upcoming year 2019. Corporations Individuals Declinations Fines/Penalties DOJ 5 26 4 $950 million SEC 14 4 NA $380 million Total 19 30 4 $1.33 bill...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a number of modifications to its policies governing prosecution of corporations for criminal and civil violations of law.  In 2017, DOJ announced its FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy.  Over the last year, DOJ expanded this policy to apply to non-FCPA corporate violations, as well as mergers and acquisitions.  In addition, DOJ recently announced the ad...

The FCPA Guidance continues to inform compliance practitioners on compliance best practices. Issued in 2012, the FCPA Guidance provides important information concerning a number of compliance functions and risks.  The FCPA Guidance includes important discussions about legal intent, due diligence, successor liability and other issues, which can be used to establish important safe harbors for an eff...

Corporate compliance departments are rapidly implementing their own internal audit function -- operating their own internal compliance monitoring and audit function.  No longer can compliance departments rely on internal audit to report on the compliance department's operations.  Companies have to implement internal (or external) audit procedures. In this episode, Michael Volkov discusses how to c...

Companies have to focus on compliance controls and non-material financial transactions to prevent fraud, bribery and other misuse of corporate funds.  One particular risky area is the control of gifts, meals, entertainment, and travel expenses.  In this new era of compliance, companies have to adopt proactive and automated strategies to mitigate risks of unauthorized GMET expenditures. In this epi...

Goldman Sachs' role in the 1MDB scandal continues to draw scrutiny.  Justice Department prosecutors are investigating the extent to which Goldman Sachs knew and participated in the 1MDB scandal, and what penalty, if any, Goldman Sachs should pay.  The recent indictment and guilty plea of two former Goldman Sachs officials represents a significant development in the ongoing investigation. In this e...

Stryker Corporation has suffered a second FCPA enforcement action, and will now bear the stigma of FCPA “recidivist.”  In reaching a settlement with the SEC and agreeing to pay a $7.8 million civil penalty, Stryker will now be subject to an SEC-imposed compliance monitor. In this episode, Michael Volkov reviews the facts surrounding the Stryker SEC settlement.

The Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) recently settled a long-active enforcement action with Epsilon relating to alleged violations of the Iran Sanctions Program.  After a mixed decision from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, OFAC negotiated a $1.5 settlement for 39 violations of the Iran Sanctions Program.  Along the way, however, OFAC sec...

The Trump Administration has aggressively restricted commerce with Cuba and Venezuela.  With respect to Cuba, the Trump Administration has re-imposed strict regulations on commerce with Cuba, reversing several Obama-era regulations easing such restrictions.  At the same time, the Trump Administration has continued Obama era policies tightening trade with Venezuela and opposing the Maduro leadershi...

Companies face a myriad of risks that can cause significant legal and reputational risks.  A company's employees are critical sources of concerns to prevent and detect problems.  Employees have to be encouraged to raise concerns to help the company address these problems proactively.  As a result, it is critical for companies to invest and promote its speak up culture to maximize employee communic...

United Technologies recently settled an FCPA enforcement action with the SEC by paying $13.9 million for bribes paid by its elevator and aircraft businesses. UT disclosed the investigation to DOJ and the SEC in late 2013 or early 2014. DOJ declined to prosecute in March 2018. UT agreed to disgorge $9 million, plus interest of about $919,000 and to pay a penalty of $4 million.   The SEC's FCPA sett...

To promote a culture of integrity and a commitment to organizational justice, companies have to implement an effective, efficient and reliable internal investigation program.  Such a system has to respond to employee concerns promptly and investigate these concerns fairly and consistently.  Companies have to devote adequate resources and attention to its internal investigation program. In this epi...

Donna Boehme is our guest on this week's podcast.  She is an advocate for an independent, and empowered Chief Compliance Officer.   Donna is an internationally recognized authority in the field of organizational compliance and ethics with over 20 years’ experience designing and managing compliance and ethics solutions, within the US and globally. As Principal of Compliance Strategists LLC, she has...

Since 2014, the United States has put into place a comprehensive set of sanctions against Russia.  In response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and its hostile activities in the Ukraine, President Obama put in place a set of sanctions focused against various sectors of the Russian economy.  Since the Trump Administration came to power, Congress enacted additional sanctions, and the Department of T...

Since my last update on the Russia investigation in December 2017, Special Counsel Mueller's investigation has been gaining momentum -- Paul Manafort plead guilty and agreed to cooperate after being convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia.  Michael Cohen entered into a plea agreement with the Southern District of New York prosecutors, including a specific admission that President Trump direc...

On May 8th, 2018, the Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA and began to reimpose the U.S. nuclear-related sanctions. All of the sanctions in existence prior to the JCPOA including nuclear-related secondary sanctions will be effective on November 5, 2018 .  The wind-down of Iran-related activities pursuant to authorizations provided by the JCPOA is requ...