The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district judge’s post-conviction dismissal of FCPA counts against Lawrence Hoskins, a former Alston executive, for his involvement in bribery scheme to secure a $118 million energy contract in Indonesia.  The Hoskins FCPA case has had a long and tortious path through the court system, and the Second Circuit’s decision, which was decided by a 2 to 1...

Chief compliance officers have access to a vast amount of data generated by their compliance programs. CCOs have to establish effective monitoring processes. A critical part of this process is to build a compliance program dashboard. This is a practical issue of real importance.  In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews this important issue.

In a bipartisan success story, the House recently passed The Enablers Act, which is a far-reaching reform bill aimed at reducing AML and corrupt financial activity in the United States. Scott Greytak, Advocacy Director at Transparency International USA, and Erica Hanichak, Director of Government Affairs at the FACT Coalition, join Michael Volkov for a discussion of this legislative accomplishment and the implications for the battle...

LRN has released a new and informative report on Assessing Corporate Culture. LRN’s report provides invaluable guidance and practical steps for corporate boards to lead in the management, oversight and monitoring of corporate culture. A link to the report is below, along with an earlier LRN report on Benchmarking Ethical Culture. In this Episode, Michael Volkov interviews Ty Francis, Chief Advisory Officer at LRN, concerning...

The Justice Department and various regulatory agencies continue to emphasize the importance of continuous improvement, testing and review as part of robust assessment procedures in an effective compliance program.  The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has specifically stated that a sanctions compliance program should include “a comprehensive, independent, and objective testing or audit function” so that a company can determine “how their program[]...

I have been — and continue to be– hyper-focused on the proper role and responsibilities for Chief Compliance Officers. Not that I see any cause for alarm, but it is easy to lose focus in the sea of so-called hot issues — ESG, Diversity, Climate Change, Threats to Democracy, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy, each of which is an important component and focus for organizations. All of these...

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 their authority...

In following the Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission FCPA enforcement actions, I am always reminded of the popular phrase — “reading the tea leaves.” (or “tasseography,” a fortune-telling method based on tea leave patterns in tea sediments). Despite a slow initial year in 2021, the Biden Administration’s stamp and push on FCPA enforcement is becoming clear.  Keep in mind, DOJ and SEC officials have...

The SEC announced another FCPA settlement in 2022. FCPA enforcement, in general, is picking up. Tenaris, a global supplier of steel pipes and related services for the energy industry agreed to pay the SEC $78 million to resolve FCPA violations that occurred in Brazil. The US Department of Justice closed its investigation without bringing charges. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the SEC settlement.