Category: General

3 Dec, 2017

Five Key Takeaways from DOJ’s New FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy

In a significant FCPA enforcement development, DOJ’s Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Rod Rosenstein announced the implementation of a new FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy last week. (Here). The announcement was not a surprise based on earlier statements made by DAG Rosenstein. Before outlining the specific five takeaways, there are a few issues surrounding the release of the new policy that require some comment. DAG Rosenstein implemented...

General

30 Nov, 2017

New Episode — Everything Compliance: The Regulatory (Or Not) Edition

Tom Fox, the Compliance Evangelist and Guru, has posted a new episode of Everything Compliance, a roundtable discussion led by Tom and including Matt Kelly, Jonathan Armstrong, Jay Rosen, and myself. During this episode, we discuss Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Paradise Papers, corporate monitors, and the AT&T-Time Warner merger. Here is a link to the episode. Thanks to Tom, Matt, Jonathan, and Jay!

General

29 Nov, 2017

Incorporating AML Compliance Into a Compliance Program (Part III of III)

Global companies should implement an AML program and KYC practices that follow the general outline for best practices, though it does not need to be as rigorous as a financial institution. For most companies, AML risks can be addressed in existing policies and procedures and would not require extensive additions to a compliance program. However, a company has to document its risk assessment, mitigation strategies...

General

28 Nov, 2017

Addressing AML Risks in Your Third-Party and Vendor/Supplier Relationships (Part II of III)

Global companies should incorporate AML risks into their risk analysis of their third-party distributors, agents and other intermediaries. The basic questionnaire, due diligence risk analysis, contractual provisions, training, and partner code of conduct should reflect attention to this risk. To the extent that global companies rely on a network of third-party distributors and sub-distributors, global companies should include contractual provisions to flow-down policies and requirements...

General

27 Nov, 2017

Anti-Money Laundering Risks for Global Companies (Part I of III)

Non-financial institution companies operating in the global marketplace face ever-increasing risks of money laundering. Sophisticated criminal organizations have developed their own mechanisms and strategies to skirt money laundering rules and regulations. The Justice Department has targeted transnational organized crime for investigation and prosecution. As a consequence, non-financial institutions have to examine their policies and procedures to protect against handling proceeds of criminal activity or otherwise...

General

26 Nov, 2017

DOJ Continues Run on Individual FCPA Criminal Prosecutions

The Department of Justice announced criminal FCPA charges against two individuals in connection with bribery payments to foreign officials in Chad and Uganda. The Justice Department’s announcement occurred on the heels of unsealing criminal FCPA charges against 7 individuals arising from two separate investigations or enforcement actions. The FCPA Unit’s recent actions underscore that the Yates Memorandum appears to have had an impact on the...

General

21 Nov, 2017

Third Party Risk Management: Require ISO 37001 Certification from Your Third Parties

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a posting about ISO 37001 certification for your third parties. Lauren can be reached at [email protected]. A lot of the focus on ISO 37001 so far has been on its value for companies considering certification as evidence of the quality of their own compliance program. With the SEC and DOJ both providing ample...

General

20 Nov, 2017

Internal Investigations: Protecting the Attorney- Client Privilege

I like to repeat myself – attorneys are valuable for only two reasons: (1) attorney-client privilege; and (2) advice of counsel defense. I know I am not supposed to denigrate my profession but these are two important reasons, especially the attorney-client privilege. In the context of corporate internal investigations, the attorney-client privilege is an essential tool when conducting internal investigations involving serious issues. I am...

General

19 Nov, 2017

Making the Case for Requiring Beneficial Ownership Information

In this era of aggressive enforcement, global companies have to integrate beneficial ownership requirements when conducting due diligence of business associates and when engaging customers. For most businesses, beneficial ownership is critical in two main legal contexts: sanctions compliance and FCPA risk. Both of these areas present significant risks to any US company conducting business overseas, regardless of what industry. Of course financial institutions face...

General

16 Nov, 2017

Putting Ethics Back Into Compliance (Part IV of IV)

My final posting on this week’s ethics series is a call to action for all compliance professionals. Every compliance officer should insist on and embrace a title – “Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer.” Some larger organizations have a separate ethics officer, and I am not suggesting to merge the positions. Every company should have a chief ethics officer, either as a separate function or as...