In its continuing ratcheting of sanctions against Russia, the United States and the European Union have announced new sanctions and export controls to target additional industries and government officials. In a new front, the US and EU included a ban on accounting and business consulting services. The new US restrictions extend to broad export controls and sanctions focused on Russian banking executives, a weapons manufacturer...
Hold onto your hats – while we are on the cusp of more FCPA enforcement actions, the Justice Department and OFAC are gearing up for real and significant sanctions enforcement actions. The dye is cast, so here we go. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco was recently quoted stating that sanctions enforcement is the “new FCPA.” This is not so surprising given the global crisis caused...
Prosecuting white collar crimes is a “mind game” in more ways than one. This is another in my long series of profound grasps of the obvious. As a former federal prosecutor, the difference between a crime and compliant behavior often turns on the specific mind or intent of the actor. Unless you are a mind reader (i.e. Kreskin for you boomers), this is often a...
In the FCPA and white collar defense community, we have seen buckets and buckets of ink spilled on the coming wave of aggressive enforcement. Justice Department officials have made so many statements about the “new” approach to prosecuting white collar crime. The government moves slowly and implementing far-reaching changes takes time. Anyone who has worked at DOJ knows that change is never immediate but takes...
As part of the United States governments effort to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, the Biden Administration sent to Congress a number of legislative proposals in addition to a supplemental request for an additional $33 billion in funding. The legislative package addresses a number of important issues and is aimed at assets owned by the Russian government and oligarchs. The proposal includes: Revisions...
We are happy to announce that Diligent has agreed to sponsor Corruption, Crime & Compliance. We look forward to collaborating with Diligent and its incredible team of professionals and thought leaders. For over twenty years, Diligent has helped boards and c-suites to design and implement effective governance practices through its market-leading board application. Over the last few years, Diligent has expanded its available solutions to...
You have to wonder how OFAC has the time to investigate and settle cases given its significant work implementing the Russia Sanctions Program. But OFAC continues to demonstrate its commitment to aggressive enforcement. OFAC’s latest enforcement action focused on Toll Holdings Limited, a global logistics company that engaged in U.S. dollar transactions with prohibited entities. Toll voluntarily disclosed the violations to OFAC but Toll was...
Even while the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) has been properly focused on implementing and enforcing the Russia sanctions scheme in response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, OFAC had time to issue two enforcement actions involving violations of the Cuba Sanctions Program. The two separate cases stem from four transactions involving Newmont Corporation, a global mining company, and Chisu International Corporation...
The Stericycle FCPA case is yet another example of a complete culture and compliance breakdown. As I often repeat myself, there is no more important control than an ethical culture. When a culture veers into the unethical and even criminal conduct, there is nothing to stop that train of illegality from continuing. When you review the facts of Stericycle’s conduct in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina,...
We always learn important compliance lessons from digging into foreign bribery schemes. The Stericycle bribery misconduct is instructive because of its pervasive operations with the participation of numerous executives and employees, and third party vendors. In the end, we always come down to a basic truth – a fish rots from the head, and in this case, it is clear that Stericycle’s Latin American division’s...
