Category: General

13 Jul, 2022

The Importance of Line-of-Sight to Ethics and Compliance

It is hard to follow all the news, events and political trends across the globe. To the regular observer, the ability to identify, measure and respond to evolving risks has become more chaotic and near impossible. Risks are multiplying exponentially — it can be overwhelming. In the end, however, ethics and compliance professionals (“E&C officers,” Chief Compliance Officers (“CCOs”),” and “compliance professionals”) have several strengths...

General

12 Jul, 2022

The Supreme Court Restricts Access to Discovery in Foreign Arbitration Proceedings

The Volkov Law Group is pleased to publish this blog article co-authored by two of our summer interns, Benjamin Clachko, a rising sophomore at the University of Vermont, and Ali Kaplan, a rising sophomore at Lehigh University. Benji and Ali have been learning about civil litigation generally, and discovery in particular. This recent Supreme Court opinion caught their attention. We think it may be of...

General

11 Jul, 2022

United States Pushes More Sanctions Against Russia and Prohibits Russian Gold Imports

The Department of Treasury issued additional sanctions against Russia, targeting almost 100 entities and individuals, and prohibited import of Russian gold. The United States’ latest action reflected commitments recently reached among the G-7 alliance to prohibit gold imports and target Russia’s industrial base, military and intelligence units, and sanctions evaders. To follow up on these commitments. FinCEN and the U.S. Department of Commerce announced their...

General

5 Jul, 2022

A Letter from Sicily: The Magical Island and the Gift of Language

Before the devastating pandemic, my wife, Rosetta and I usually found ourselves in Sicily during the 4th of July holiday. It just was the way our journey occurred. In the past, I often would take the July 4th holiday opportunity to reflect on the Sicilian people, the island, its food and culture. This year, fortunately, we have returned to Sicily for another adventure. It is...

General

4 Jul, 2022

Happy Fourth of July!!

To all of our clients, colleagues, family and friends, we wish you a Happy Fourth of July. While we live in a difficult and troubling time, please take a moment to embrace gratitude and respect for all those who have sacrificed to secure our freedoms. Together, we can continue America’s unique history of freedom. Have a terrific holiday!!

General

30 Jun, 2022

CCOs and Execution of Compliance Certification: A Significant Risk? (Part III of III)

CCOs, by definition, are careful and deliberate. It comes with the profession. As risk managers, CCOs are skilled in identifying, assessing and acting in a risk environment. The impact of the new CCO certification requirement, however, presents serious risks that cannot be brushed off or ignored in the face of assurances that prosecutorial discretion will protect CCOs from misguided prosecutions. Frankly, CCOs recognize that there...

General

29 Jun, 2022

DOJ CCO Certification Requirements and DOJ Compliance Mandates (Part II of III)

The new DOJ Certification requirements certainly raise a number of new issues and risks for senior management and chief compliance officers. In Part I of this series, I outlined the specific language and the Plea Agreement standards imposed on companies that enter into a Plea Agreement with DOJ for FCPA violations. DOJ has reiterated its support for this new Certification requirement. Indeed, a DOJ official...

General

28 Jun, 2022

DOJ Compliance Program Certification Requirements (Part I of III)

The Department of Justice continues to respond to the compliance community’s concerns about the new certification requirement adopted as part of the Glencore FCPA enforcement action. DOJ has adopted this new requirement to “empower” CCOs and to ensure that CCOs have a “seat at the [senior management] table.” While these are all laudable goals, CCOs continue to question whether DOJ’s new certification requirement will undermine...

General

24 Jun, 2022

Sanctions in the Twenty-First Century: UK Imposes Social Media Restrictions in Response to Continued Russian Aggression

Alex Cotia, Regulatory Manager and Compliance Adviser at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a post on the United Kingdom’s Russia Sanctions against social media. Alex can be reached at [email protected]. Under a statutory instrument promulgated under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (amending the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019)), the UK government recently passed sweeping new trade restrictions on the provision...

General

23 Jun, 2022

Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Charges Russian Oligarch Abramovich with Violating Russia Export Controls

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) charged Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich with violating U.S. export controls by exporting U.S.-origin aircraft to Russia. In a precedent setting action, BIS issued a charging letter, the first letter under a new enforcement policy, outlining the specific facts in support of the charges. As described in the charging letter, two of Abramovich’s private planes flew...