FCPA Compliance Report

In this episode, I visit with James Gellert, CEO of RapidRatings, a company which uses a financial dialogue to determine third party supplier health and viability. Gellert explains what supply chain resilience is and how can examining financial health of your suppliers can lead to a more financially efficient supply chain. We then discuss the company’s third party risk management tools. We conside...

After last week’s guest announcers, Jay and I return for a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance related stories, including:  The first Declination of the Session’s Justice Department, Linde gas. For a copy of the Declination click here. For Tom’s discussion of the lessons learned, click here.  The son of Equatorial Guinea's president went on trial this week in France for em...

Who to suspend during any Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation is always a delicate question to answer. Unfortunately there is never an easy answer. As the Volkswagen (VW) emission-testing scandal continues to reverberate, it continues to bring up some very knotty questions, which have bedeviled the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) or compliance practitioner in many areas. Today there...

Prior to the Schrems decision by the European Court of Justice, US based law firms could rely on Safe Harbor to use and analyze information from investigations conducted in Europe. However the Schrems decision and subsequent EU privacy rulings and regulations have brought the entire issue around internal investigations into question. In a podcast interview with UK solicitor and data privacy expert...

On June 16, 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a Declination to Linde North American Inc. and Linde Gas North America LLC (collectively “Linde”). This is the first Declination issued by the DOJ in the era of the Trump Administration. For that reason alone, it was instructive and should be studied by the compliance profession. However, the case presented several interesting factors which...

 The concept of privilege in an internal investigation is critical. Two important privileges are the attorney/client privilege and the work product privilege. Unfortunately both are often miss-understood, miss-applied and consequently lost.  One such recent example of the miss-application of the attorney/client privilege was in the trial of former PetroTiger co-Chief Executive Officer (co-CEO) Joe...

In this episode, James Koukios, a partner at Morrison & Foerster returns to discuss the firm's newsletter Top Ten International Anti-Corruption Developments for April 2017. In this episode we highlight the three following matters for discussion and what lessons can be garnered from them.   World Bank Veteran to Change Positions. The World Bank announced that Pascale Helene Dubois would become the...

In this episode, I visit with Roy Snell about his recent announcement that he is stepping down as head of the SCCE. We review the current state of the SCCE and how the Roy has seen the compliance evolve from its start after the 1992 US Sentencing Guidelines. We discuss where Roy sees compliance going in the next several years and where the SCCE may go to support the profession.  This announcement...

Day 14-Miranda and Internal Investigations: What Rights Does an  Must an investigator warn an employee that concealing information from company lawyers conducting an internal FCPA investigation could be a federal crime? Even if the company attorneys handling the investigation provided the now standard corporate attorney Upjohn warnings, does a company attorney asking questions morph into a de fact...

In this episode, Mike Volkov and I discuss how blockchain has the potential to transformation compliance and may facilitate some truly revolutionary modifications in key businesses processes. I see some great value propositions for the compliance function.  For further reading, see: Blockchain and the Future of Compliance, by Mike Volkov.  Will Blockchain Transform Compliance? by Tom Fox How Block...

When then Assistant Attorney General Sally Yates, announced the Memo that bears her name, she said the following, “we have revised our policy guidance to require that if a company wants any credit for cooperation, any credit at all, it must identify all individuals involved in the wrongdoing, regardless of their position, status or seniority in the company and provide all relevant facts about thei...

This week, as their tribute to their Dad, we are guest hosted by Jay’s daughters, Millie and Michela. They lead us through a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance related stories, including: The Covington and Burling report on corporate culture at Uber. For what it means to the compliance practitioner, see Tom’s piece in the FCPA Compliance & Ethics Blog. For another view on...

What are the characteristics of a good interview in the context of an internal investigation? Is there one technique you can use which will provide you the results you want to achieve? How should you think through your questions and document review prior to the investigation? In this episode, I explore these and other questions, in an interview with noted internal investigation expert Jonathan Mar...

Today, I want to consider some of the challenges you may well face during an investigation.  Beyond the basics, a company must consider the intake process as a starting point, however Marks noted one of the biggest challenges is in the intake process. Rather surprisingly, he noted there are still companies without a hotline or anonymous reporting system, stating “we still see organizations whereby...

In this episode, I visit with Lauren Briggerman, a member at the firm of Miller & Chevalier. She discusses the latest edition of the firm newsletter, Executives at Risk: Navigating Individual Exposure in Government Investigations-Spring 2017. We discuss several recent developments in significant government investigations which highlight the tactics prosecutors are deploying and the risks faced by...

In this episode I visit with Luciana Silveira, a PhD candidate who is studying the FCPA and how it is has affected international trade flows. Some of the questions she is considering include the following: Was US business abroad affected? Did US companies decide to change their foreign business strategy because of the FCPA? After so many years of the law, what is the private sector overall opinion...

Mara Senn and a colleague, Michelle Albert, published in the FCPA Report, Volume 3, Number 1, entitled “Internal Investigations, How to Conduct an Anti-Corruption Investigation: Developing and Implementing the Investigation Plan”. I interviewed Senn on her thoughts about handling a cross-border investigation.  Offer Interview Translations            While many people outside the US have various le...

In this episode, Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive into the corporate governance fiasco which is Uber. We consider the revelations in the failures of corporate governance, culture and internal controls at the organization. The company provides a fascinating study of what happens when a tech start up raised in the fraternity culture is successful and how changes are required for it to act like a mu...

Beginning with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Yates Memo, its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Pilot Program and then the release of the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (Evaluation), I believe the DOJ has put even more pressure on every Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), and indeed every company, to get an investigation done quickly, efficiently and most importantly done right is...

  In the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (Evaluation), under Prong 7 Confidential Reporting and Investigation asks the following: Properly Scoped Investigation by Qualified Personnel – How has the company ensured that the investigations have been properly scoped, and were independent, objective, appropriately conducted, and properly documented? These quest...

Today I am joined again by Professor Samuel Buell, from Duke University School of Law to discuss a recent paper he co-authored with Rachel Brewster entitled, "The Market for Global AntiCorruption Enforcement". In the paper and in this podcast Professor Buell discusses the internal structural changes which took place in the 1980s and 1990s which set the stage for the explosive growth in FCPA enforc...

Show Notes for Episode 56, for the week ending June 9, the Who’s On First Edition  This week, Jay and I have a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance related stories. We discuss:  The Kokesh case at the US Supreme Court is significant for SEC enforcement of the FCPA around profit disgorgement. For what it means to the compliance practitioner, see Tom’s piece in the FCPA Compl...

  There is nothing like an internal whistleblower report about a FCPA violation, the finding of such an issue or (even worse) a subpoena from the DOJ to trigger the Board of Directors and senior management attention to the compliance function and the company’s compliance program. Such an event can trigger much gnashing of teeth and expressions of outrage followed immediately by proclamations “We a...

In an article in the Corporate Board magazine, entitled “Successful Board Investigations” by David Bayless and Tammy Albarrán, partners in the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP posited seven considerations to facilitate a successful board investigation. Consider whether you need independent outside counsel  The appearance of partiality undermines the objectivity and credibility of an investigati...

  The dog days of summer are on the horizon and the Houston Astros lead the major leagues in winning percentage. Coincidence that the US pulls out of the Paris Climate Accords the same week the Astros are playing .700 baseball? The top four commentators in compliance return to talk about what is one their summer radar for consideration. This episode concludes with the panelists’ rants.  Matt Kelly...