Ethics and compliance had a big year — new compliance guidance was issued by the Justice Department’s Criminal and Antitrust Divisions and by the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control.  The compliance profession continues to innovate and new automated technologies are rapidly becoming available. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews ethics and compliance trends.

The Justice Department and the SEC had a record year in FCPA enforcement — the largest amount of penalties against corporate defendants and the most individuals charged in one year.  DOJ also adopted new guidance on corporate compliance programs.   The Justice Department’s enforcement year included several major prosecutions, including Ericsson, Walmart, Fresenius Medical and Cognizant Technology. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews 2019 FCPA enforcement...

Global companies face extraordinary risks through their reliance on third-party agents, distributors, consultants and vendors/suppliers.  Federal prosecutors and regulators have had a record year in FCPA and sanctions enforcement.  To mitigate these risks, global companies are quickly adopting automated platforms to manage their third-party risks.  NAVEX Global is at the forefront of this effort through its RiskRate automated platform. Chris Bailey, Product Manager, NAVEX Global,...

The Sweden-based telecommunications company, Ericsson, agreed to a pay a total of $1 billion (yes, billion with a “B”) for FCPA violations. Ericsson entered into settlement agreements with DOJ and the SEC. Ericsson agreed to pay a criminal penalty of over $520 million and approximately $540 million to the SEC. An Ericsson subsidiary in Egypt entered a guilty plea to an FCPA conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery,...

OFAC’s aggressive enforcement program continues.  Recently, OFAC announced settlements with Apollo Aviation and Apple.  Both of these cases underscore the importance of enhancing OFAC compliance programs. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the two cases and the specific lessons learned.

The Justice Department has been very busy in FCPA enforcement matters — (1) Samsung Heavy Industries paid $75 million to settle FCPA violations; (2) Braskem’s former CEO was indicted on FCPA charges; and (3) after a three-week trial, Transport’s co-CEO was convicted of FCPA charges. In this episode, Michael Volkov catches up on recent FCPA enforcement actions.

Lawrence Hoskins, a UK citizen and former Alstom executive, was convicted last Friday on 11 of 12 counts for his role in a bribery scheme involving Indonesian officials.  Hoskins conviction took years to secure because of jurisdictional challenges and appeals.  Hoskins was originally indicted in 2013.  The jury deliberated for one day – a resounding victory for DOJ prosecutors.  Hoskins’ defense team launched an unusual defense, claiming that...

The Justice Department has aggressively continued to pursue False Claims Act prosecutions against healthcare companies and physicians.  By the mid-point of 2019, DOJ had collected over $800 million against pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals.  In the last few months, DOJ has brought several significant prosecutions. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews recent healthcare fraud enforcement cases.

Corporate board members have an obligation to oversee and monitor a company’s compliance program.  In two recent cases, Delaware courts have tightened the standard governing board liability under the Caremark decision.  Several months ago, in a case involving the Blue Bell Ice Cream listeria outbreak, the Delaware Supreme Court applied a heightened standard when relating to “mission-critical” issues involving food safety to a food company.  In another...

Chief compliance officers are often responsible for managing a company’s conflicts of interest policy. A company can suffer serious legal and reputational harm if it fails to identify and mitigate conflicts of interest. The nature and scope of conflicts of interest vary across the organization, especially at senior management and board levels. Given the number and complexity of conflicts, CCOs have to devote adequate attention...