Sam Finkelstein rejoins us for a posting on OFAC’s recent enforcement steps and guidance on Russian Oil Sanctions and the Maritime Industry. Sam can be reached at [email protected]. It looks like the days of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” are numbered. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced Thursday that it had imposed sanctions on two entities, and identified as...

Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Manager, and Daniela Melendez, an Associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoin us for a joint posting reminding readers on the importance of addressing electronic communications preservation and management in this new age of rapid technological change.  Alex can be reached at [email protected], and Daniela can be reached at [email protected].  One thing you can count on — change.  Not that there is...

On September 29, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged several firms with recordkeeping failures. These recordkeeping failures relate to pervasive and longstanding off-channel communications.  Generally, all of these actions relate to the widespread use of various messaging apps that ultimately violate SEC requirements and circumvent internal corporate controls.  These are the latest enforcement actions in a string of similar penalties by the SEC...

As part of its continuing effort to encourage corporate voluntary disclosures, the Department of Justice announced revised voluntary disclosure policies applicable to mergers and acquisitions.  In a speech at the recent annual Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics annual meeting in Chicago, Lisa Monaco, Deputy Attorney General,  outlined the new voluntary disclosure policies. DAG Monaco described the importance of DOJ’s policy promoting corporate commitment to...

Don’t miss our sessions! Volkov Law’s Michael Volkov, Steve Naughton, and Jessica Sanderson will be speaking at Compliance Week’s virtual “Third-Party Risk Management Oversight Summit” on November 6 and 7, 2023. Compliance Week is offering our followers a 15% discount (see code below). Mike and Steve will present together on Monday, November 6th, in an afternoon session entitled, “The ABCs of an Effective Third-Party Risk...

The Securities and Exchange Commission continues to rack up FCPA enforcement actions.  In its latest settlement, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings agreed to pay $26.1 million for bribery violations committed by its former Chinese subsidiary.  According to Clear Channel, the Department of Justice closed its FCPA investigation.  Clear Channel, a San Antonio-based advertising company, paid bribes to Chinese government officials with cash, gift cards, first-class travel,...

Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Manager at The Volkov Law Group, recently appeared on David Noah’s podcast to review the Bureau of Industry and Security’s enforcement action against Pratt & Whitney for violation of the Anti-Boycott regulations. You can listen/watch the podcast HERE. Alex Cotoia’s blog post on the enforcement action is HERE.

The Albemarle FCPA enforcement action was announced at a good time.  This year has been a slow year for DOJ’s FCPA enforcement program, although there are several months before the end of the year. The SEC, on the other hand, has been steady this year — the Albemarle and Clear Channel enforcement actions are numbers eight and nine for the year.  The Albemarle enforcement action...

Albemarle’s bribery schemes look and sound like text-book examples of third-party agents being paid high commissions as a way to funnel bribery payments to foreign officials at state-owned oil refineries.  However, as usual, there is more than meets the eye in the factual descriptions. The DOJ and SEC settlements focused on bribery conduct in Vietnam, Indonesia and India.  However, the SEC also cited Albemarle’s control...

Albemarle Corporation (Albemarle), a specialty chemicals manufacturing company located in Charlotte, North Carolina, agreed to pay more than $218 million to settle FCPA investigations with DOJ and the SEC stemming from bribery payments in Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Albemarle entered into a three-year non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”) with DOJ and agreed to pay a penalty of approximately $98.2 million and an administrative forfeiture of approximately $98.5...