I was grateful to appear on Umbereen Ahmed’s new podcast, CEO Tech Talks. Umbereen and I had a great discussion on the importance of ethics and compliance, the direct financial benefit and the need for a robust compliance program to mitigate AI risks. Here is the LINK TO THE EPISODE.
Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a wonderful and restful holiday. With the New Year, we wanted to rejoin the blogosphere. the podcast community and our webinar audience. We are still in the process of re-designing the Volkov Law website and were hoping to complete that process by January 1, 2026. However, given delays and pressing assignments, we were unable to meet the optimistic...
On September 30, 2025, the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), U.S. Department of Commerce, announced an administrative settlement with Hallewell Ventures, Ltd. (“Hallewell”) and its beneficial owner, Russian businessman Albert Avdolyan, arising from an unauthorized reexport of a Bombardier Global 7500 aircraft to Russia in March 2022. The matter concludes with a $374,474 civil penalty, payable within thirty days of the order, and conditions...
I have written extensively on the importance of trade compliance. The risk landscape has changed rapidly with the Russia-Ukraine war, the Trump Administration’s focus on tariffs, economic nationalism, and sanctions and export control enforcement. Along with these significant trends, companies have increased focus on supply chain risks and management. A new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and PWC, Trade Compliance for Leadership, presents...
You can always count on LRN as a consistent source of important ethics and compliance program trends and insights. In its latest report, LRN provided important insights on company Codes of Conduct. The last report from LRN on this topic was in 2023. LRN’s Report included a comprehensive review of nearly 200 global Codes and a new survey from over 2,000 employees across 15 countries. ...
On September 30, 2025, the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued an interim final rule (“IFR”) that significantly revises the scope of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) by extending Entity List restrictions to cover affiliates of listed parties. Effective on the date of filing for public inspection, the IFR abandons the longstanding “legally distinct” standard, under which only entities expressly enumerated on the Entity...
Like the annual Presidential State of the Union Address, NAVEX’s yearly State of Risk and Compliance Report provides important insights and benchmarks against which compliance professionals can measure their own accomplishments and upcoming priorities. This year, NAVEX surveyed nearly 1000 risk and compliance professionals. The headline findings are fascinating and impportant to consider. The New Priority of Artificial Intelligence (AI) We are all aware of...
On September 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced the resolution of an enforcement action against ShapeShift AG (“ShapeShift”), a now defunct digital asset exchange incorporated in Switzerland but headquartered and operated from Denver, Colorado. ShapeShift agreed to remit $750,000 to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs, including those directed...
The European Union has continued to refine its approach to sanctions compliance by publishing new guidance on the critical issues of “ownership” and “control” through its Sanctions Helpdesk platform. The guidance—released in late August 2025—offers much-needed clarity on how companies operating within the Union should identify, evaluate, and manage the risks posed by indirect links to sanctioned parties. In particular, the document provides detailed direction...
Compliance has its lingo — and one particular one I like, Third-Party Risk Management or “TPRM.” Years ago, everyone cited third-party risks. Now, we use TPRM as if everyone knows exactly what it stands for. The language usually evolves with the substance. And that is certainly true. The coverage of third-party risk has expanded with the years to embrace many new risks, issues and challenges....
