Category: General

15 Nov, 2021

Monitoring and Measuring A Company’s Ethical Culture: Relevant Survey Strategies (Part I of II)

Chief compliance officers play a key role in managing a company’s ethical culture. Most companies fail to pay proper attention to its culture because it is difficult to define, measure and monitor. Such an approach is short-sighted. CCOs have to embrace this issue and develop appropriate techniques to measure a company’s culture. All too often I observe companies that rely on annual or semi-annual company-wide...

black and red caliper on gold colored bitcoin

General

12 Nov, 2021

What to Know About the DOJ’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team

Matt Stankiewicz, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us to discuss the DOJ’s cryptocurrency enforcement efforts. He can be reached at [email protected]. In early October, U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the creation of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (“NCET”). The NCET will handle the Department’s investigations and enforcement actions relating to cryptocurrency and virtual assets, which has seen...

General

11 Nov, 2021

US Defense Contractor CEO Charged with Bribery

Bribery occurs in the United States — what a surprise! Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index ranks the United States as 25 out of 179, a relatively low ranking for corruption. Some have argued (including me) that the US ranking may be inaccurate given current regulations surrounding campaign finance and other means by which influence peddling and corruption can occur with low detection risks. That is...

General

10 Nov, 2021

Rockwell Automation Executives Arrested for Fraudulent Scheme

Little problems can become big ones. A failure to respond to a risk – whether it is a conflict of interest violation or a weakness in internal controls – can become even more significant depending on the size and scope of the problem. A recent criminal prosecution of two Rockwell Automation executives underscored the nature of this phenomena. Last month, federal prosecutors arrested and charged...

General

9 Nov, 2021

Deputy AG Lisa Monaco Suggests Major Changes to the DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Efforts

Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Manager at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a post providing additional color into U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s recent announcement on changes to DOJ policies. Alex can be reached at [email protected]. On October 28, 2021, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco—a veteran of government service in previous Administrations and a champion of corporate accountability—announced several significant changes to...

General

8 Nov, 2021

Justice Department Files to Block Penguin Random House’s Acquisition of Simon and Schuster

The Justice Department filed a complaint in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to block Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster. Penguin Random House is the largest book publisher in the world and Simon & Shuster is the fourth largest publisher. Penguin Random House is a subsidiary of Bertelsmann SE and is based in New York City. Penguin Random House’s...

General

4 Nov, 2021

Ransomware and OFAC Sanctions Compliance

We have all read about the high-profile malicious cyber-attacks and ransomware demands and payments. The Colonial Pipeline case demonstrated how responsive law enforcement can be in tracking down perpetrators and recovering ransom payments. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) has a vested interest in this enforcement arena. On September 21, 2021, OFAC issued an updated ransomware advisory on the topic (“Updated Advisory”)....

General

3 Nov, 2021

Keeping Track of Third Party Risks – Bribery and Sanctions

We have heard it over and over, again and again – third-parties pose significant risks of bribery for all global businesses. Almost every FCPA enforcement action includes some form of third-party misconduct. The current picture from the Stanford FCPA Resource confirms the story. A cottage industry of automated platforms, data analytics, due diligence and monitoring strategies have grown around third-party bribery risk. Companies have designed...

General

2 Nov, 2021

Here Comes DOJ – Corporate Crime Enforcement

Sorry to repeat myself (sorry, but inevitable in my maintaining this blog for 9 years), but the Justice Department, like other enforcement agencies, will tell everyone what they plan to do and then do it. Not on individual investigations, but in enforcement priorities, strategies and resources. Lisa Monaco, the Deputy Attorney General (No. 2 in DOJ), delivered an important speech at the National Institute of...

General

1 Nov, 2021

Basic Operational ESG Program Issues (Part III of III)

A supervising ESG Committee has to resolve several basic questions in order to build out its ESG program. What are the company’s ESG risks? How is the company’s ESG program tailored to its ESG risk profile? What kind of information are investors, shareholders and stakeholders demanding as part of a disclosure framework? How will the company collect, assess, and monitor relevant data, and the disclose...