When assessing your third-party risks, it is important to start with one important division — a company’s supply chain and on the flip side, a company’s distribution chain.  Sourcing materials and supply chain links present a set of risks.  Conversely, a company’s distribution chain, sales channel, presents another set of challenges.  In each case, legal and compliance have to understand the legal risks presented by...

Trade compliance officers are scrambling — they knew change was afoot but no one expected the speed and wide scope of upheaval in the trade arena.  One day presents potential changes with serious ramifications. In this turbulent era,  legal and compliance have to maintain calm, avoid over-reaction and remain close to their corporate values and principles.  Legal and compliance have to present a steady confidence. ...

The recent sentencing of Israeli freight forwarder Gal Haimovich to two years in federal prison for violations of U.S. export controls serves as a striking example of the aggressive enforcement posture adopted by U.S. authorities in response to the circumvention of trade restrictions on Russia. Prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the case underscores the severity with which...

Heightened federal scrutiny of unauthorized technology transfers to foreign entities has once again resulted in high-profile criminal convictions, as two senior executives of Quadrant Magnetics, a Kentucky-based manufacturer specializing in rare earth magnetics, have pleaded guilty in federal district court to charges stemming from the unlawful transmission of ITAR-controlled technical data to an affiliate in China. The case, which underscores the heightened scrutiny of corporate...

This week, we bring you a replay of one of our most impactful podcasts from last year, featuring Alex Cotoia and Daniela Melendez. Listen in as we discuss the EU Whistleblower Directive of October 2019. We’ll return next week with one of our regular updates. Directive 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and Council dated 23 October 2019 on the “protection of persons who report breaches...

In one of the most significant enforcement actions involving the illicit export of aircraft components to Russia since the imposition of sweeping sanctions in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Justice recently unsealed an indictment charging FlightTime Enterprises, Inc. (“FTE”) and three of its employees implicated in a complex scheme to circumvent U.S. export controls. The indictment, filed in the...

We have some new vernacular to bring into the compliance arena — companies need to address risks of interacting with cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs).  Companies need to understand the laws used to designate cartels and other organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). Under current criminal and sanctions laws, FTOs and SDGTs create criminal and civil risks for...

The scope of new import tariffs and regulations portends significant operational risks and disruptions.  It is easy to imagine numerous companies that depend on imports for production purposes are facing a new set of challenges.  This is when companies are at risk of significant disruptions.  However, let us hope that many companies are prepared — the disruption caused from the 2020 Pandemic challenged companies to...

We live in a topsy-turvy world.  This is an exaggeration but sets up my points in this blog post. We are now seeing the shuffling of corporate risks and every board, C-Suite and legal, compliance and risk management team has to take a hard look at your company’s risks and reassess and re-rank them. Initial Review Some basic business and technology risks will stay the...

The dust is settling and for all the drama surrounding the Trump Administration’s refocus on FCPA enforcement, the picture is becoming a little bit clearer.  When cooler heads prevail, it is much easier to pick through the relevant issues and prioritize the issues and analysis. First, we need to put this in perspective.  From a much larger viewpoint, the FCPA pause has to be considered...