Corruption, Crime & Compliance

Featured Articles:

General

11 Sep, 2024

John Deere Reaches $9.9 Million Settlement with SEC over FCPA Violations

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently instituted proceedings against Deere & Company (“John Deere”), a leading global manufacturer of agricultural and heavy machinery, for multiple violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). These violations arose from improper activities undertaken by its wholly owned subsidiary, Wirtgen Thailand. The underlying misconduct—which occurred between late 2017 and 2020—included the provision of illicit payments and other...
General

9 Sep, 2024

The Board’s Perspective: Wrapping Your Arms Around Risks

This week I attended the Diligent Elevate annual meeting in Houston, Texas. For those of you who don’t know Diligent, it is a great event, and you can meet risk and compliance professionals, board members, and lawyers. Diligent conducted numerous board education sessions at which board members spoke about new and significant risks; these included increased stakeholder expectations and the burdensome review of education and...
General

9 Sep, 2024

The Importance of Compliance Independence

I did not expect to return to this issue. This was an “old” issue that was resolved many moons ago. The issue was a professional debate over the reporting relationship between the chief compliance officer (CCO) and the chief legal officer (CLO)/general counsel. After 20 years of debate, CCOs managed to sway the professional community: CCOs have to operate independently, without improper interference by the...
Podcasts

8 Sep, 2024

Episode 335 — Review of the DOJ Whistleblower Program

On August 1, 2024, DOJ issued its Whistleblower Policy Pilot Program (“WRPP”). The new program amends its Corporate Enforcement Policy. DOJ also issued a Program Guidance document, a Fact Sheet, Frequently Asked Questions and a dedicated website. The WRPP will run for three years. The Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (“MLARS”) is administering the WRPP. The WRPP will reward individuals who provide “original information”...
General

5 Sep, 2024

RTX Corporation Reaches Record $200 Million Settlement with DDTC for Serial Violations of the AECA and ITAR

On August 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) announced the settlement of a record $200 million administrative enforcement action with RTX Corporation—a multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate—for 750 separate violations of the Arms Export Control Act (“AECA”) and accompanying International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). As described in the context of a charging letter released by DDTC, RTX Corporation...

11 Sep, 2024

John Deere Reaches $9.9 Million Settlement with SEC over FCPA Violations

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently instituted proceedings against Deere & Company (“John Deere”), a leading global manufacturer of agricultural and heavy machinery, for multiple violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). These violations arose from improper activities undertaken by its wholly owned subsidiary, Wirtgen Thailand. The underlying misconduct—which occurred between late 2017 and 2020—included the provision of illicit payments and other...

General

9 Sep, 2024

The Board’s Perspective: Wrapping Your Arms Around Risks

This week I attended the Diligent Elevate annual meeting in Houston, Texas. For those of you who don’t know Diligent, it is a great event, and you can meet risk and compliance professionals, board members, and lawyers. Diligent conducted numerous board education sessions at which board members spoke about new and significant risks; these included increased stakeholder expectations and the burdensome review of education and...

General

9 Sep, 2024

The Importance of Compliance Independence

I did not expect to return to this issue. This was an “old” issue that was resolved many moons ago. The issue was a professional debate over the reporting relationship between the chief compliance officer (CCO) and the chief legal officer (CLO)/general counsel. After 20 years of debate, CCOs managed to sway the professional community: CCOs have to operate independently, without improper interference by the...

Podcasts

8 Sep, 2024

Episode 335 — Review of the DOJ Whistleblower Program

On August 1, 2024, DOJ issued its Whistleblower Policy Pilot Program (“WRPP”). The new program amends its Corporate Enforcement Policy. DOJ also issued a Program Guidance document, a Fact Sheet, Frequently Asked Questions and a dedicated website. The WRPP will run for three years. The Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (“MLARS”) is administering the WRPP. The WRPP will reward individuals who provide “original information”...

General

5 Sep, 2024

RTX Corporation Reaches Record $200 Million Settlement with DDTC for Serial Violations of the AECA and ITAR

On August 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) announced the settlement of a record $200 million administrative enforcement action with RTX Corporation—a multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate—for 750 separate violations of the Arms Export Control Act (“AECA”) and accompanying International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). As described in the context of a charging letter released by DDTC, RTX Corporation...

General

5 Sep, 2024

DOJ Awards Declination to Proterial Cable America for Fraud — Proterial Pays $15.1 Million in Disgorgement

DOJ is pushing hard for voluntary disclosures and urging companies to take advantage of its Voluntary Disclosure Program. The carrot is significant — a declination in exchange for cooperation, remediation and disgorgement. We often hear about the benefits of voluntary disclosure involving FCPA case. But the program extends to other crimes — fraud being a significant area. In a significant fraud case, Proterial Cable America,...

General

4 Sep, 2024

SEC Outlines “Effective Cooperation” Standard

The Securities and Exchange Commission is catching up to DOJ. Not in enforcement but in transparency. After years of criticism, the Justice Department has set the gold standard for transparency and providing guidance on enforcement and compliance. The SEC needs to elevate transparency and offer new guidance to the public and industry. It is even more important for the SEC to provide guidance given the...

General

3 Sep, 2024

DOJ Issues New FCPA Declination: Boston Consulting Group Pays $14.4 Million

The Justice Department is encouraging companies to voluntarily disclose criminal violations — “Come in and confess” and DOJ offers promises of a declination. But even a declination comes with a requirement — the company has to pay disgorgement. DOJ has done everything it can do to incentivize voluntary disclosures — many companies are balancing the pros and cons and often deciding NOT to disclose. Such...

General

28 Aug, 2024

The Compliance “Curse” — Learning to Compromise Principles

Compliance lessons are life lessons. Compliance professionals are, by their nature, optimistic people. They see challenges as new opportunities to strive closer to an ideal. Compliance professionals live in the shadow of the ideal — some may call it the compliance curse. Like the famous artist curse, compliance professionals suffer from an internal struggle — the obsession with perfection, an effective compliance program, and the...

General

26 Aug, 2024

Antitrust Division Indicts Company, Executive and Employee for $100 Million Price-Fixing Conspiracy

DOJ’s Antitrust Division has been relatively quiet in prosecuting criminal cartel or bid-rigging cases. Since 2015, the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement has fallen from the billions in penalties each year to the lower hundreds of millions. Most of this may reflect the end of the large, Japanese auto supplier investigation. While the Leniency Program was a significant source of enforcement actions, it appears the Program...