In this episode of Corruption, Crime and Compliance, Michael Volkov rounds up three major economic policy developments happening alongside Operation Economic Outcast: the State Department’s rescission of Syria’s nearly 47-year State Sponsor of Terrorism designation, opening the door to renewed trade and eased export controls; an escalating tariff war with Canada following the collapse of USMCA renewal talks, including a 50 percent tariff on roughly...

For anyone hoping a friendlier DOJ can make their old charges disappear, a federal judge just reminded us that vanishing requires his or her permission. Big development out of Brooklyn federal court. DOJ tried to drop the remaining bribery and obstruction charges against executives tied to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. The judge said no. Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that Deputy AG Trent McCotter’s justification for...

In this episode of Corruption, Crime and Compliance, Michael Volkov devotes a full deep dive to Operation Economic Outcast, Treasury’s aggressive campaign to close off Iran’s remaining financial and commercial channels following the collapse of a June 2026 US-Iran memorandum of understanding. He walks through OFAC’s expansion of sectoral sanctions into aviation, digital assets, gold, shipping, and technology with no U.S. nexus required, the suspension...

If you’re planning for 2027 with 2025’s budget in mind, your compliance program is about to fall on its face. KPMG just surveyed 725 chief compliance officers, and the headline is simple: the job has fundamentally expanded, and if your 2027 plan doesn’t reflect that, you’re already behind. 75% of CCOs say cybersecurity and data privacy are top investment priorities. 77% say the same about...

In this episode of Corruption, Crime and Compliance, Michael Volkov examines two significant executive sentencings handed down within a day of each other: Tomás Niembro Concha, the former CEO of Puerto Rico’s now-defunct Nodus International Bank, sentenced to more than nine years for a multiyear fraud scheme that fleeced his own bank of nearly $25 million and a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Venezuela...