Category: General

19 Mar, 2020

Antitrust Compliance Programs: Training and Speak Up and Reporting Systems (Part III of III)

Many global companies are behind the eight-ball (translation, slow to implement) effective antitrust compliance programs. A small number of companies, some of which have suffered antitrust enforcement actions or operate in high-risk industries, have implemented innovative antitrust compliance programs. These programs stand out in the compliance landscape. An effective antitrust compliance program typically includes robust training programs, well beyond dry in-person or webinar-based recitations of...

General

18 Mar, 2020

Antitrust Compliance Programs: Ethical Culture and Monitoring (Part II of III)

Like all compliance programs, a company lives or dies based on its ethical culture. A company with a poor culture that operates in a concentrated competitive market has significantly higher antitrust risks than companies with a strong ethical culture. This basic and well understood premise has to be considered in designing an antitrust compliance program. If senior management does not walk the walk, antitrust risks...

General

17 Mar, 2020

Five Key Elements of an Antitrust Compliance Program: Risk Assessments (Part I of III)

In July 2019, the U.S. Justice of Department’s Antitrust Division ended a long-running controversy surrounding compliance program credit by issuing its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations (“Antitrust Guidance”). The Antitrust Guidance is a terrific resource, filled with excellent ideas and innovative suggestions. Companies need to review and enhance their antitrust compliance programs, especially those companies with tangible antitrust risks. In designing...

General

16 Mar, 2020

“Paralysis” and a Culture of Wrongdoing

We all are familiar with the “horror” stories circling numerous infamous corporate scandals – Wells Fargo, Boeing, General Motors, Airbus, Ericsson, HSBC and on and on. When you read about each of these scandals, layer by layer, the corporation is infected with a culture of wrongdoing. In these situations, senior management, middle management and employees embrace differing levels of commitment to wrongdoing, ranging from intentional...

General

16 Mar, 2020

The Pandemic Crisis – A Note of Support

I have to admit that it is hard to maintain this blog under the current circumstances. It is hard to ignore the “elephant in the room.” The coronavirus crisis is having a serious impact on our country, society, communities and families. I am deeply troubled by the current handling of this crisis at the federal level and the coming tsunami for our healthcare system. In...

General

14 Mar, 2020

Addressing the Coronavirus Crisis and Corporate Response

In this global pandemic crisis, every company is being tested. No matter how much time was put into emergency planning it is difficult to imagine that anyone could have foreseen the scope and nature of the current crisis. But we are about to experience and witness an important test. Companies have to recognize the nature of the crisis, the impact on their operations, prepare consumers,...

General

12 Mar, 2020

United Bank Risk Officer Agrees to $450k Penalty for AML Compliance Failures

Compliance professionals face extraordinary risks – not just for the enterprise but personal risks. CCOs should not panic or overreact when the government brings an enforcement action against a compliance officer for a company’s compliance failure. The lesson for compliance officers who work in regulated industries is fairly straightforward – when faced with real compliance problems, compliance professionals have to document efforts to address the...

General

10 Mar, 2020

The Danger of a Hyper-Focused Sales Culture

We all know that economic incentives are critical to promoting performance. Going back to the days of Adam Smith, the U.S. economic growth is the result of a basic motivation – hard work can result in significant revenues/profits. Companies create incentives for their employees as well – sales performance is linked to salary, bonuses and promotions. We have observed skewed sales incentives, such as the...

General

9 Mar, 2020

DOJ Catches Big Fish in Generic Pharmaceutical Criminal Antitrust Investigation

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division announced a major guilty plea with Sandoz, Inc., in its expanding criminal investigation of the generic pharmaceutical industry. DOJ has been pursuing this investigation for several years with some progress, but the Sandoz guilty plea is a major accomplishment in the investigation. Sandoz agreed to pay $195 million in exchange for a three-year deferred purchase agreement (“DPA”). DOJ filed a...

General

4 Mar, 2020

Swiss Telecomm Company Pays $7.8 Million to Settle OFAC Sanctions Violations

OFAC continues to aggressively enforce its sanctions programs. In its latest enforcement action, OFAC agreed with Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques SCRL (“SITA”), a Swiss telecom company, to an approximately $7.8 million civil penalty for 9,256 violations of the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (“GTSR”). SITA provides telecommunications services to companies in the civilian air transport industry. Membership in SITA is open to industry operators worldwide...