This is likely to be a politically incorrect posting. I hope I do not offend too many people, especially those new data privacy professionals. As kids, we were always excited when an ice cream truck visited our neighborhood offering a new flavored ice cream. For a brief period of time, the new ice cream flavor was the popular rage. In the corporate legal and compliance...
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) presents numerous compliance challenges for businesses. Given the heightened focus on consumer privacy and ever-increasing enforcement risks, companies have to move quickly to ensure appropriate compliance programs are in place by January 1, 2020. Any business that collects, stores and processes consumer information is subject to significant risks. The importance of CCPA compliance is not limited to businesses that...
When the federal government fails to assume responsibility for establishing law and policy in important federal areas of jurisdiction, the individual states then spring into action to fill the vacuum. When the Framers considered the proper role of the federal government after the debacle of the misguided Articles of Confederation, the Framers adopted our Constitution premised on the foundation of a strong federal government. Unfortunately,...
In a major announcement and escalation of the sanctions regime targeting President Maduro and Venezuela, on August 5, 2019, the Trump Administration issued a new Executive Order 13884 (Here) to block all property of the Venezuela Government. The aggressive action was implemented to target the Maduro regime. At the same time, OFAC issued 12 amended general licenses (Here) and 13 new general licenses (Here), and...
Most compliance officers will admit that they have more than enough responsibilities in their purview. They are usually not looking for more. I have some bad or good news on this front depending on your perspective. As companies struggle with cybersecurity and data privacy issues, companies should naturally turn to compliance to play a larger role in overall risk mitigation strategies. Up to now, it...
In yet another enforcement action, OFAC announced a $1.709 million settlement with PACCAR, Inc., for 63 apparent violations of the Iran Sanctions Program by DAF Trucks, a wholly-owned subsidiary based in Eindhoven, Netherlands. (Here). On three separate occasions, between October 2013 and February 2015, DAF sold or supplied 63 trucks to customers in Europe that it knew or had reason to know were ultimately intended...
I am proud to announce the launch of a new podcast with my friend and colleague, Tom Fox. In recognition of our mutual appreciation for the Marx Brothers and compliance, Tom and I decided to create a new podcast — Why a Duck? Into the Compliance Soup with Tom Fox and Michael Volkov. The first two episodes are available Here. In the first episode, Tom...
When it comes to the Justice Department and reading the tea leaves, I often rely on a very obvious point – DOJ tells you in advance what it is planning and then executes its plan. This has been true in the FCPA arena, prosecution of the opioid cases, targeting health care fraud and a history of initiatives. DOJ is fairly transparent on its priorities. Recently,...
I have long predicted that corporate board members are in for a rude awakening. (See posts here and here and ebook here) Corporate boards have to improve their ability and knowledge surrounding supervision and monitoring of a company’s ethics and compliance program. Most corporate boards have little to no knowledge about what compliance is, how it works, and what their precise obligations are as part...
Matt Stankiewicz, Senior Associate, and Jessica Sanderson, Of Counsel, both at The Volkov Law Group, rejoin us for an interesting posting on a new OFAC reporting requirement. Matt can be contacted at mstankiewicz@volkovlaw.com, and Jessica can be contacted at jsanderson@volkovlaw.com. On June 21, 2019, OFAC changed its requirements for reporting on blocked or rejected transactions under 31 C.F.R. §501.604. With little fanfare, the interim rule...
