Corporate compliance staff often conduct internal site visits and reviews. Since the pandemic and the development of remote technology, compliance officers have reduced the number of site visits. In recent years, compliance staff arre slowly increasing the number of site visits and reviews. These site visits permit compliance staff to review important issues: (1) personnel interviews; (2) transaction testing and vendor reviews; (3) ethics and...

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has been aggressively pursuing civil enforcement actions.  While criminal enforcement of antitrust laws has been depressed, DOJ has found success in pursuing civil and merger enforcement.  DOJ recently won a significant victory against Google for its monopolization of the search market. DOJ has now turned its attention outside of technology markets by filing suit against Visa for its dominance of...

The Justice Department announced yet another version of its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs.  As everyone knows, the Justice Department’s guidance carries talismanic significance — it is an important document that provides important direction on the design and implementation of an effective compliance program.  DOJ understands the importance of this document.  In recognition of evolving technology and compliance program innovations, DOJ updated its guidance to...

The Justice Department has repeated on several occasions that it intends to aggressively prosecute corporations for sanctions and export controls violations.  The “New FCPA” is how the Justice Department characterizes its plan.  To execute the strategy, DOJ has assigned 25 new prosecutors.  This is the most important fact — unleashing 25 new prosecutors with the goal of bringing criminal cases against corporations and individuals will...

The SEC’s recent settlement with Deere & Company for $9.9 million for FCPA violations is another textbook example of bribery schemes, which revealed the absence of a culture of compliance, and the circumvention of basic entertainment, hospitality and travel expense controls.  Deere’s bribery scheme involved its Thailand subsidiary, Wirtgen Thailand, and various improper payments to government officials, including cash, sham consulting fees, extravagant “factory visit”...

Nicolas Garcia is the VP Legal and Regional & Compliance Manager LATAM at Orica, one of the world’s leading mining and infrastructure solutions providers. From the production and supply of explosives, blasting systems, specialty mining chemicals and geotechnical monitoring to our cutting-edge digital solutions and comprehensive range of services. With more than 10,000 employees, Orica has operations in more than 30 countries with offices in...

The Justice Department is encouraging companies to voluntarily disclose criminal violations — “Come in and confess” and DOJ offers promises of a declination.  But even a declination comes with a requirement: the company has to pay disgorgement In the latest declination case, Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”) earned a declination for FCPA violations stemming from conduct in Angola.  BCG, a management consulting firm, earned the declination...

On August 1, 2024, DOJ issued its Whistleblower Policy Pilot Program (“WRPP”).  The new program amends its Corporate Enforcement Policy.  DOJ also issued a Program Guidance document, a Fact Sheet, Frequently Asked Questions and a dedicated website. The WRPP will run for three years.  The Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (“MLARS”) is administering the WRPP.  The WRPP will reward individuals who provide “original information”...

A New York federal district judge handed down a significant decision dismissing much of the SEC’s securities fraud enforcement action against SolarWinds arising from its claims relating to SolarWinds’ cybersecurity policies, and disclosure of a significant cyberattack against the SolarWinds’ network. In an unprecedented case, the SEC alleged that SolarWinds, which went public in 2018, mislead the public as to the effectiveness of its cybersecurity...

The Boeing 737 MAX case took another dramatic turn.  On July 24, 2024, the Department of Justice filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas a proposed plea agreement with Boeing.  The plea agreement, which has been filed under Federal Rule Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C), requires the Court to approve and accept the deal.  The Court can reject the plea deal...