As I have frequently stated, if your business is operating in China, chances are you are violating the FCPA.  That sounds very cynical but there is a measure of reality to my claim. With all the recent attention from the GSK investigation in China which is rapidly extending to other drug companies, China should be on every company’s mind.  There are several important aspects to...

June 19, 2013 12 Noon – 1 PM Register Here FCPA enforcement started out slowly this year and then exploded in the second quarter. DOJ indicted individuals from the BizJet case, revealed undercover operations in another case, and settled the fourth largest case in FCPA enforcement history. All of this activity should come as no surprise to companies and practitioners. Join Michael Volkov, CEO, The...

Every company has its share of internal politics, rivalries and tensions.  No organization is free from internal strife.  For a company to be successful, you need talented, ambitious and intelligent people. It is hard for a company to avoid internal struggles, turf wars and competition among rivals.  It is part of the healthy energy which drives a company forward.  Occasionally, internal jockeying can be damaging...

Timing is everything.  Woody Allen said it best – 80 percent of life is just showing up.  Unless you are the Chamber of Commerce.  Talk about bad timing and sour grapes. The Chamber just does not get the message.  After the Justice Department and the SEC issued its FCPA Resource Guide, the Chamber is still not satisfied.  Whatever you may say about the FCPA Resource...

In this era of whistleblower risk, companies need to prepare for whistleblower complaints which are made outside the company.  Whistleblowers are not required to report complaints internally nor wait for any specific period of time to benefit under the SEC whistleblower program. Instead, whistleblowers have an incentive to wait for 120 days before contacting the government.  Under the SEC’s whistleblower regulations, a whistleblower is entitled...

The healthcare industry is very familiar with risks and compliance.  In many areas of compliance, the healthcare industry has led the way.  The record of success is mired in one significant glaring area – the independence and authority of chief compliance officers. The industry as a whole deserves a pat on the back; however, it still is coming to grips with the need for an...

The new “hot” term among cutting edge lawyers is “cloud data” compliance.  As always, experts often confuse an issue in an attempt to make it impenetrable to clients.  It is a sophisticated marketing ploy used by the legal profession (and I apologize in advance on behalf of lawyers everywhere). While I have little technical expertise (and instead rely on so-called “IT experts”), I have a...

The CFPB is the new regulator on the block.  Republicans in Congress continue to try to strangle the CFPB from exercising its legal authorities.   The re-election of President Obama ensured that the CFPB will continue to enforce federal consumer protection laws. In its first eighteen months, the CFPB has been active, asserting jurisdiction and launching investigations against large banks, student loan companies, mortgage servicing, debt collectors, money transmitters, debt...

It has been ten years since Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted.  No one can argue that Sarbanes-Oxley eliminated the problem of corporate malfeasance. Maybe Sarbanes-Oxley did not address the real problem.  Corporate scandals occur when corporate governance fails to properly supervise corporate operations.  Senior management may try to keep corporate boards in the dark but that can only occur when a corporate board is not following basic governance principles. For...

No one will ever call the last twenty years of television the “golden age of television.”  I have always turned off “reality” television for one reason – it is boring.  For some reason, American television viewers have become less interested in entertainment and more interested in watching so-called “reality” shows which are far from realistic and have no lasting artistic value. While “reality” does not...