Boeing continues to struggle. As troubles mount for Boeing, it  is clear that it suffers from real and pervasive culture issues that have been reflected in serious safety failures, financial difficulties, regulatory violations and serious reputational damage.  Boeing’s troubles permeate every part of its organization — from the board to senior executives, to its operations and its overall ethics and compliance commitment.  As a result...

When it comes to FCPA enforcement, the Justice Department’s global focus for many years was on Asian countries, and in particular, China.  This trend, however, has continued, but in the past few years, DOJ has brought a larger percentage of criminal cases against Central and Latin American entities and individuals.  The reason for this focus reflects DOJ’s long-standing and closer working relationships with prosecutors and...

On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges and a related cease-and-desist order (the “Order”) against TradeStation Crypto, Inc. (“TradeStation”) for failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto-lending product.  In order to settle these charges, TradeStation agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty.  As part of the agreement, TradeStation did not admit or deny the findings.  TradeStation’s...

Following the death of opposition politician Alexey Navalny, the Biden Administration announced a large swath of new and additional sanctions on the Russian Federation.  The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (”OFAC”), in conjunction with the Department of State and the Department of Commerce, added almost 300 individuals and entities to the Specially Designated Nationals List (“SDN List”).  Later in the day,...

The Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) has taken action against the former General Counsel of Michigan-based Sterling Bank and Trust in the agency’s latest action against an individual corporate officer for failure to maintain an adequate Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) compliance program. Between 2012 and 2023, Colleen Kimmel was employed in various compliance-related capacities at Sterling Bank, including as General...

In a significant development, the European Union (EU) is set to implement the most comprehensive suite of regulations seen to date governing the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) technology. The proposed regulatory overhaul aims to address a wide range of concerns surrounding AI, including ethical considerations, accountability, and potential risks to individuals and society writ large. The forthcoming “AI Act”––the final text of which was...

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the case, Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC et al. (February 8, 2024).  The Supreme Court’s decision reaffirms an ongoing trend — to protect and encourage whistleblower reporting as a means to enforce proper corporate governance.  The European Union’s Whistleblower Directive and new United States whistleblower incentive programs continue to...

News recently published by multiple media outlets suggest that certain subcomponents incorporated into a variety of Volkswagen-owned vehicles—including cars manufactured by luxe brands Porsche, Bentley and Audi—were sourced from an unspecified region in “western China” (“PRC”) presumed to be the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“XUAR”). According to these sources, Volkswagen itself was not aware of the origin of the part, which, according to the Financial...

If companies operated with perfect governance mechanisms and controls, they would all be ready for the coming sanctions enforcement storm.  However, that is not the corporate reality.  Even after several companies are the subjects of these aggressive enforcement actions, corporate boards, senior risk managers and senior executives will turn to the chief compliance officer and ask — “do we have an effective sanctions compliance program?”...

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.  Willa Cather I know I sound like a broken record.  The Justice Department’s white collar criminal enforcement  has been trending down over the last few years.  The reasons for that are unclear — is it resources, difficulty and length of investigations or just lack of initiative?  Whatever the cause may be, one...