This is my favorite topic. New trends come and go in the compliance field, while effective solutions and strategies slowly but surely take hold. Eventually, an effective compliance practice or strategy becomes a “best practice,” or an “industry standard.” To those who complain that ethics and compliance is a profession riddled with amorphous standards or vague “guidance” that lacks discipline, my response is that such...
The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has steadily expanded its influence in the enforcement landscape. Global companies now face a complex regime of sanctions that require careful navigation. As the U.S. government expands its reliance on sanctions to influence foreign actors and advance foreign policy interests, global companies have to design and implement robust trade compliance programs. In recognition of this...
Here we go – another year, another set of predictions. Who knows whether they will come true? Actually, I went back and read my annual prediction posting for 2018 and 2017, respectively. Some things I called correctly, and others I missed the mark on. One consistent error – the Wal-Mart FCPA case would be resolved. So this year, I am employing reverse psychology. The Wal-Mart...
Happy New Year! Another year is in the books for FCPA enforcement and compliance. The headline for this past year (like many other years) is/was – The more things change, the more they stay the same. FCPA enforcement is bipartisan and immune from political winds. I may live to regret this assertion. Whether DOJ is under Republican or Democrat control, FCPA enforcement will continue. DOJ’s...
To all of our clients, readers, subscribers, listeners, from everyone at The Volkov Law Group wishes you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!! We will resume our blog, podcasts and webinars with the new year — on January 2, 2019. Best wishes to all — Mike, Matt, Colleen, Stephen, Noah and Susan.
UBS Group agreed to pay a combined $15 million penalty to the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”)and the SEC for regulatory deficiencies in its anti-money laundering compliance program. UBS is required to pay $5 million to the Treasury Department; $5 million to the SEC and another $5 million to FinCEN. UBS’ broker-dealer unit, UBS Financial Services, Inc. (“UBSFS”), violated the Bank Secrecy...
The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) recently announced a settlement against Cobham Holdings (and its former subsidiary Aeroflex/Metelics, Inc. (“Metelics”, a software company) for $87,507 for violations of OFAC’s Ukraine-Russia sanctions program. (OFAC announcement here). Metelics violated the Ukraine-Russia sanctions program on three occasions between July 31, 2014 and January 15, 2015, by selling telecommunications and computer software (3,400 switch limiters;...
Technology and computer analytics are important tools in the fight against fraud. But it is not the magic and exclusive bullet. Fraud is committed by humans and investing in the human element, while difficult to measure, is an important part of every fraud prevention strategy. The fraud triangle is an essential framework for understanding fraudster behavior. The fraud triangle is no panacea but it is...
The battle against fraud is evolving and technology is providing new and important tools to detect and prevent fraud. Companies are using a variety of techniques and include: continuous monitoring; email monitoring; anomaly detection; pattern recognition and artificial intelligence. Data mining and statistical analysis can be helpful in detecting fraud. By using sophisticated data mining tools, companies can search millions of transactions to spot patterns...
For the love of money is the root of all evil – 1 Timothy 6:10, King James Version, The Bible Corporate bribery requires money. How is that for something obvious. Companies face a variety of threats – one enduring threat is the risk of fraud or theft. Unfortunately, employee fraud is all too common. PWC’s 2018 Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey reported that “only...
