It is rare to say but Hollywood occasionally can provide us with ethics and compliance lessons. My wife and I recently saw the movie, A Most Violent Year. It is worth seeing – not just for entertainment, but also for the ethics and compliance lesson. (Of course, you know your life needs a little jolt when you go the movies only to walk out muttering...

We all can cite situations in which we avoid the truth. Part of the reason is we want to believe and cannot accept the truth. With age, we supposedly acquire wisdom and become more realistic about personal and professional situations. For the compliance professional, it is easy to sink into the “happy talk” defense and avoid realistic assessments. I have met and worked with many...

With the increasing criticism of DOJ’s use of deferred prosecution agreements (“DPAs”), it was inevitable that the courts would assert themselves in this area. Last week, Judge Richard Leon on the District of Columbia rejected a DPA involving Fokker Services under which Fokker agreed to pay $21 million in penalties for violation of OFAC sanctions involving Burma, Sudan, and Iran. During the period 2005 to...

The focus on the FCPA provides a myopic view of corruption. Bribery of foreign officials is only one slice of the corruption pie. Even though the United States ranks number 19 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, there is plenty of domestic corruption that occurs at the federal and state level. There are two major federal corruption prosecutions that are ongoing and getting significant national...

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, joins us again with a posting on ethics and compliance.  Her profile is here.  She can be reached at [email protected]. I work in the corporate compliance field – land of concern about potential FCPA violations. After the DOJ/SEC collected approximately $1.5 billion in criminal fines, an all-time record for yearly FCPA settlement amounts, CCOs have even...

The Department of Justice has encouraged companies to voluntarily disclose potential FCPA violations and cooperate in the investigation, of FCPA violations.   Many companies have responded positively to the Justice Department’s urgings and have been rewarded for their cooperation. I have suggested that DOJ should adopt and publicize guidelines for how cooperation will be measured and specific discounts to be earned for levels of cooperation....

DOJ and the SEC have quietly (or maybe not so quietly) set an enforcement tone in the aviation industry. When you look over the last few years, we have several enforcement actions either pending or resolved involving the aviation industry. The focus on the aviation industry is not limited to the United States. The Serious Fraud Office and German prosecutors have launched investigations of Airbus....

You have to give credit to the SEC and its enforcement approach. They have learned many lessons along the way, especially when it comes to prosecuting individuals. The SEC appears to have regained some focus in its enforcement approach.   If this is a sign of things to come, 2015 is going to be a very interesting year. In its first enforcement action of the year,...

For years, we have all heard about the coming wave of FCPA enforcement against financial institutions, investment banks, private equity firms and others who interact with sovereign wealth funds overseas. Just to remind everyone, back in 2010-2011, the SEC launched an industry investigation by issuing document requests to major banks, and investment bankers seeking information on their compliance programs and interactions with foreign officials, focusing...

To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence – Mark Twain I have a problem with writers, columnists, consultants, bloggers and anyone else who puts a pen to paper (as we used to say) on ethics and compliance issues. All of us have a responsibility to the profession that we believe in and promote. Call it what you will but there is...