Contrary to the often-repeated narrative, the Justice Department is transparent about its enforcement plans and compliance expectations. Since the issuance of the FCPA Guidance in 2012, DOJ has continued to provide guidance on a number of important issues. It also telegraphs its compliance priorities by acknowledging assignment of resources and creation of specific task forces. Of course, DOJ can provide more transparency on a range...
Cryptocurrency companies are in trouble. Regulators are bearing down on crypto companies with the Eye of Sauron – pulling the crypto companies into their jurisdiction, prosecuting fraud cases, and aggressively prosecuting companies for sanctions and anti-money laundering violations. One by one you can bet that crypto companies will be in the enforcement headlines. As they fall, policy makers can point to their continuing excesses as...
The ABB case, like most significant FCPA enforcement actions, sets important precedent and policy reminders. With time, and looking back, ABB gives companies with a prior criminal history a way forward to seek a fair resolution notwithstanding huge obstacles based on past performance. If you are ABB, you dodged a significant bullet – the appointment of an independent compliance monitor, which DOJ has been regularly...
The details of bribery schemes are invaluable for learning how criminals think – bribery always requires some scheme to transfer money from the organization to fund bribery payments to a government official(s). Compliance professionals like to comb through the wreckage and turn the inquiry into a self-assessment. The logical questions follow: All of these inquiries are important to apply to analyze your own company’s weaknesses...
The Justice Department’s new Corporate Enforcement Policy and the heightened enforcement and compliance expectations were put to the test in its announcement of a $315 million settlement of bribery charges with ABB, a three-time loser in foreign bribery enforcement. In some respects, the new policy should not apply to ABB’s case given its recent announcement but nonetheless the ABB resolution provides some important indicators of...
Join us December 7-8 for Compliance Week’s Third Party Risk Management & Oversight Summit, the only cross-industry conference dedicated to risk management, oversight strategies, and best practices for vendor and third-party relationships. The Summit will be live-streamed virtually. Our Partner Jessica Sanderson will be joining Sandeep Bhide for a panel entitled Deep Dive into Third-Party Relationships to Identify 4th and Nth Parties on December 7 from 12:00...
Alexander Cotoia, Regulatory Manager at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a posting on State Department’s plan to increase ITAR enforcement of controlled data transfers. Alex can be reached at [email protected]. During a plenary session of the Defense Trade Advisory Group (“DTAG”) that convened on November 9, 2022, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mike Miller outlined a number of initiatives undertaken by the Directorate...
We are pleased to announce the addition of Sam Finkelstein as an Associate Attorney at The Volkov Law Group. Sam comes to Volkov Law from the Bergen County Superior Court, where he served as Judicial Law Clerk to the Hon. Frances A. McGrogan, J.S.C. Before his clerkship, Sam worked as a Legal Analyst with The Volkov Law Group; in this capacity, Sam distinguished himself as...
DOJ’s decision to examine corporate compensation programs as an important part of a compliance program should be welcomed. DOJ’s initiative asks a very good question – how can incentives and disincentives be used to promote compliant behavior without unjustly punishing shareholders who bear the brunt of large corporate penalties? DOJ wisely decided to open this issue to further examination through a consultation process. The possible...
The Justice Department did not just willy-nilly announce its embrace of clawbacks and deferred payment compensation punishment as a remediation tool for companies that suffer an enforcement action and settlement. To the contrary, DOJ has been examining this issue, even citing it in important policy spheres and enforcement actions, as an important tool in its arsenal. Both the DOJ and the SEC have been weighing...
