If ever there was a year that challenged corporate leaders on their commitment to business ethics, 2020 was the year. The number of difficult issues facing corporate leaders were challenging and ran the gamut – from health and safety concerns, to business continuity, and to economic disruptions and lay-offs or reductions in force. Even outside the organization, social concerns, supply chain management and community needs...
OFAC reported two new enforcement actions in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. The two new enforcement actions are interesting examples of sanctions enforcement, one of which involved the first against a digital currency company. BitGo Settlement BitGo, Inc. a technology platform that provides digital asset wallet management, agreed to pay $98,830 to settle 183 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs, including the Crimea...
Well, it is that time again. I get to put on my Carnac the Magnificent Hat and offer my FCPA predictions for 2021. I should get a pass on my 2020 FCPA Predictions posting because no one could have anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic. Although even with the asterisk, I correctly predicted the Goldman Sachs enforcement action (which was not so hard given Goldman Sachs disclosure...
DOJ and the SEC each had a great year in FCPA enforcement. But it is important to acknowledge that the blockbuster case, Goldman Sachs, was the driver of this successful year. Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs paid DOJ and the SEC nearly $4 billion in fines and disgorgement. DOJ has reccivered nearly $1` billion in assets through its forfeiture initiative. Goldman Sachs was a massive and...
DOJ and the SEC have provided unprecedented compliance guidance and information. DOJ has established itself as the preeminent leader in advancing ethics and compliance programs, best practices and innovations. No agency or global organization has had such a dramatic impact on the improvement of corporate compliance programs. To be sure, DOJ and the SEC have a two-prong strategy – first and most important, DOJ and...
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission had another record year of enforcement. In fact, the last four years of FCPA enforcement included two years of record enforcement – 2019 and 2020. After those two years, 2016, 2014, 2010 were larger enforcement years (as measured by total fines) than 2017 and 2018, the first two years of FCPA enforcement under the Trump Administration....
The Volkov Law Group wishes our clients, colleagues, subscribers, readers and friends and families a wonder, happy holiday season. We are grateful for your support and your friendship. While this has been a very difficult year, we look forward to a New Year filled with hope, recovery, and a bright path forward. Our blog will return after the New Year. Thank you again from all...
We all have been following the rapid growth of cryptocurrency and the creation of lucrative trading platforms. Cryptocurrency has earned the scrutiny of regulators and criminal prosecutors – not for run-of-the-mill fraud schemes, but for compliance with applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations. Late in 2020, the Justice Department and the Commodities Futures Trade Commission (“CFTC”) slammed BitMEx and its principals with a coordinated criminal...
The United States continues to lag in corporate board diversity. Many corporate boards are dominated by white males. Progress on this issue has been slow. The number of women on Russell 3000 boards rose from 15 to 19 percent. Most of the increase occurred on boards of mid- and large-cap companies. In 2019, 45 percent of new board members were female and only 15 percent...
The internal controls provision in the FCPA statute has broad application to a variety of situations beyond foreign bribery. The Securities and Exchange Commission knows full well the power of the internal controls provision and has readily applied it in a variety of circumstances. One recent example is the SEC’s settlement with Andeavor LLC for failure to publicly disclose the status of its negotiations to...
