Category: General

5 Apr, 2017

A Money Laundering Nightmare: Western Union Ponies Up $770 Million to Settle with DOJ, FTC and FinCEN

Earlier this year, in January 2017, Western Union entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Justice Department and the FTC, and agreed to pay $586 in forfeiture to settle anti-money laundering and consumer fraud violations. At the same time, Western Union agreed to pay $184 million in civil monetary penalties for AML violations. The Western Union prosecution sends an important reminder to financial institutions,...

General

5 Apr, 2017

New White Paper — Online Compliance Training: Making the Right Choice

I am pleased to announce with our sponsor, Workplace Answers, the release of a new white paper, Online Compliance Training: Making the Right Choice. You can download the white paper here. My white paper analyzes the steps that companies should take to maximize the benefits of online training programs as an important part of a company’s overall training and communications program. In this white paper,...

General

4 Apr, 2017

A Strategy for Non-Disclosure of FCPA Violations

We all understand that issues are not black and white, meaning there are areas of gray when analysis and cost-benefits need to be weighed. Lawyers are regularly identifying legal risks and applying such risks to specific courses of action. Depending on the countervailing considerations, lawyers can recommend moving forward in the face of a specific risk. Much has been written (including on this blog) about...

General

4 Apr, 2017

Human Trafficking and Smuggling – A Compliance Requirement

The problem of human trafficking and smuggling is staggering when you consider the human impact behind the numbers. Human trafficking is a $30 billion industry annually. There are more people in slavery today than at any time in history. One in five victims of human trafficking are children, while in certain regions of Africa and Asia, they comprise a majority of trafficked persons. Women constitute...

General

2 Apr, 2017

AML Enforcement and Compliance Trends

Law enforcement focus on anti-money laundering appears to be increasing. While the last ten years has seen a marked increase in AML regulatory obligations, the new administration is likely to return to some of the more “traditional” AML enforcement programs, such as terrorist financing, organized and transnational money laundering, tax evasion and other areas. The regulatory focus of enforcement will continue on beneficial ownership, shell...

General

29 Mar, 2017

FCPA Remediation Focus on Supervisory Personnel

The Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement and remediation focus on supervisory personnel is an interesting development. On the one hand, DOJ has been slow to bring individual criminal enforcement actions for FCPA violations. At the same time, they are flirting with a potential new enforcement approach – a criminal prosecution for circumventing internal controls without proof of bribery. However, FCPA prosecutors appear to be gun-shy after...

General

28 Mar, 2017

The Three Lines of Compliance Offense Versus The Three Lines of Compliance Defense

People crave simple solutions to complex problems. No, this is not a political statement, nor do I intend to wade into politics. This statement applies across the board – to business, compliance, government, and other institutions. We all want to understand difficult issues and to gain that understanding without the hard work that is required to learn a complex issue, consider alternatives, and develop possible...

General

27 Mar, 2017

Compliance, Technology and Data Analytics

Compliance professionals cannot do it alone. Of course, CCOs need compliance staff and the collaboration of business, human resources, legal, financial and audit, and related functions in order to succeed. I have made this point over and over (again and again). Along with human and functional resources, CCOs need to embrace technology and data analytics. I have written about the importance of technology to the...

General

26 Mar, 2017

Lawyers and Culture in the Financial Services Industry

The rise of the compliance profession has had a number of positive impacts on the corporate governance landscape. One of the most important results has been increased focus on corporate culture. Chief compliance officers recognize that they are the guardians of the company’s culture (assuming the company does not have a separate Chief Ethics Officer). Some companies have recognized the importance of ethical business decision-making...

General

22 Mar, 2017

Legal and Compliance Coordination – An Essential Foundation to an Effective Compliance Program (Part IV of IV)

Here is a profound grasp of the obvious – Lawyers can be difficult people. Some like to condemn the profession in its entirety (and carry with them a collection of lawyer jokes). As an attorney, I beg to differ. Many professions include and reward difficult people. For example, CEOs have the highest incidence of psychopathy among professionals. Lawyers are no different and expected to zealously...