To start the New Year, it is a good idea to review the trends in the role and status of Chief Compliance Officers.  As we witness the continuing growth in stature of the CCO, we need to exercise caution.  Some troubling concerns are becoming apparent.  With a new Attorney General and Biden Administration, CCOs have to be mindful of their ever increasing responsibilities and concomitant...

The Volkov Law Group is proud to announce that Alexander Cotoia has joined the firm as a Regulatory Manager and Compliance Consultant. Alexander specializes in corporate risk assessments, evaluation of general compliance programs, and the remediation of compliance deficiencies. He also specializes in trade (export) compliance and is familiar with a broad range of issues arising under both the Arms Export Control Act and its...

Boeing’s settlement with DOJ raises more questions than answers.  While I understand that a criminal case against Boeing requires DOJ to identify one or more individuals who have committed a crime that can be fairly attributed to the Boeing corporation.  The doctrine of respondeat superior is the mechanism by which this legal attribution occurs. Boeing has been praised for its remediation efforts and its end...

Boeing’s criminal conduct, as described in the settlement papers, centered on two of its 737 MAX Flight Technical Pilots, who deceived the FAA about an important aircraft part called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) that impacted the flight control system of the Boeing 737 MAX.  Because of their deception, a critical document published by the FAA lacked information about MCAS, and in turn, airplane...

Matt Stankiewicz, Managing Counsel at The Volkov Law Group, joins us for updates on the SEC enforcement action against Ripple. Matt can be reached at [email protected]. Following the SEC’s December filing, Ripple Labs, Inc. has now responded and taken its first steps to defend itself against the allegations.  Ripple’s first move was to file FOIA request with the SEC to obtain the information from the...

Boeing’s long and tragic scandal surrounding its 737 MAX safety concerns and FAA disclosure violations has come to an end.  DOJ announced a settlement early this year, on January 7, 2021, which included a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in exchange for total payments of $2.5 billion, consisting of: a $243.6 million criminal penalty, $1.77 billion in compensation to its airline customers, and $500 million...

Jessica Sanderson, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, joins us for her annual False Claims Act Review. Jessica can be reached at [email protected]. $1.9 trillion dollars of federal spending on the horizon. That’s right, immediately following his inauguration in 2021, President Biden proposed a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows the approximately $3.5 trillion of federal government funds...

In 2020, the Justice Department  brought criminal charges against 22 individuals in FCPA-related investigations.  While this was a decline from the two preceding years, COVID-19 had a dramatic impact on criminal FCPA prosecutions. In particular, DOJ faced challenges from unavailable grand juries to present evidence needed to bring criminal indictments, and numerous federal courthouses were either closed down or not conducting criminal trials for lengthy...

In a harbinger of future enforcement actions surrounding AML compliance program violations, the Treasury Department’s The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced a $390 million settlement with Capital One for weaknesses in its AML program. Capital One was credited $100 million for its 2018 payment to the Office of the Comptroller for AML violations involving its check cashing business unit.  The FinCEN enforcement settlement involved conduct...

Deutsche Bank’s ethics and compliance function faces numerous challenges.  Deutsche Bank has a storied record of scandals, government enforcement actions and failures to abide by prior deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs).  When you review these matters, Deutsche Bank’s track record reflects serious culture and control deficiencies, including participation of high-level executives in bribery schemes.  Deutsche Bank’s continuing legal and compliance failures are likely to continue unless...