If I ever told you years ago that the 2021 headlines would be dominated by the “supply chain” crisis, you would have immediately questioned my judgment (and perhaps sanity).  The current crisis reflects the roller coaster economic impact of the pandemic. If there ever was a global disruption of severe magnitude, we have been through it.  We have all had experience in managing disruptions and...

A targeted employee survey program requires careful planning and communications prior to launching the survey program. Employee engagement in response to a specific survey requires transparent and robust explanations and assurances. In the absence of appropriate communications and assurances, employee response rates may decline. Employees have to understand why the survey is being conducted, whether anonymity will be protected, and how the results will be...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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”)....

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...