Category: 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...

General

15 Nov, 2017

Six Specific Areas to Embed and Promote Business Ethics (Part III of IV)

The challenge for corporations is to build practical approaches to business ethics and its specific corporate values. Business ethics as a field is all well and good but we need to start sharing specific and practical strategies to infuse our day-to-day conduct and advance our corporate performance. In doing so, I am not so limited nor naïve to suggest that the only measure is corporate...

General

14 Nov, 2017

Trust and Integrity – Bedrock of Corporate Sustainability (Part II of IV)

Here is another profound grasp of the obvious – all companies need to make a profit. However, as companies begin to focus on long-term performance rather than short-term quarterly objectives, innovative leaders believe that profitability can be achieved without sacrificing social, environmental and moral considerations. To the contrary, the long-term success of a business may only thrive when it reflects the needs of its stakeholders...

General

13 Nov, 2017

Business Ethics, Values and Personal Ethics (Part I of IV)

This week I am examining in a four-part series the issue of business ethics in an attempt to provide practical approaches to business ethics to help build and promote a company’s culture. As more attention is paid to the importance of an ethical culture, I wanted to first offer some general observations. The field of business ethics is thick with definitions, moral arguments and theoretical...

General

12 Nov, 2017

The FCPA Week That Was — Seven Individuals Charged for FCPA Violations

To all the “nattering nabobs of negativity” concerning FCPA enforcement, the US Justice Department responded with a resounding message – not only is FCPA enforcement here to stay, but individual violators are on DOJ’s radar screen. In an FCPA enforcement week like no other, the Justice Department unveiled a total of seven charging documents (indictments or informations) for FCPA violations, five arising from the Rolls...