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.
In a long-anticipated and major enforcement action, the Justice Department and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission resolved a sprawling investigation with Glencore International A.G. and Glencore Ltd, a Swiss-based commodity trading and mining company. Glencore entered guilty pleas for FCPA violations and a commodity price manipulation scheme. Glencore paid over $1.1 billion to resolve these two major investigations. The resolution in the U.S. was part of...
The global economy has suffered two significant shocks — first, the pandemic sent shockwaves through every organization, and second, the war in Ukraine. Both of these events exposed the importance of risk management, especially with regard to supply chain and distribution operations. Hence, the renewed focus on third-party risk management and the repetitive description of “holistic” third-party risk management. Reality has a way of forcing change and...
The Justice Department ended its FCPA enforcement drought by announcing its first corporate settlement in 2022. In a parallel action, the SEC announced its settlement with Stericycle for $28 million for FCPA violations. The SEC’s settlement was its second with a company for 2022 (the first was KT Corp.). Under the settlement, Stericycle resolved investigations being conducted by the Department of Justice, the Securities and...
Federal prosecutors know that their job – to represent the United States – is the highlight of their legal career. Speaking from experience, federal prosecutors are a privileged lot – they can announce in court they represent the United States. It is a heady experience and an absolute privilege. It is hard not to repeat the Spiderman quote, “With great power comes great responsibility” – but...
OFAC recently announced a settlement with S&P Global for $78,750 for violations of the Ukraine-Russia Sanctions Program. The enforcement action provides important reminders relating to compliance with various “debt” maturity restrictions and how OFAC construes this restriction. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews OFAC’s enforcement action against S&P Global.
The SEC is a very busy enforcement agency. While promising more aggressive enforcement of securities rules, the SEC has issued two set of comprehensive rule amendments. The first proposes new rules governing cyber incident reporting, disclosures and governance. In the second major policy action, the SEC issued its long-awaited rules governing climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. in this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the two...
The Antitrust Division’s Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter promised a new era in antitrust enforcement. He won bi-partisan support from both Republicans and Democrats. Across the antitrust field, he promised aggressive merger enforcement, civil enforcement against digital markets, and constraint of market power in numerous industries. AAG Kanter promised a new approach and he is delivering. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the Antitrust Division’s...
In another indication of DOJ’s aggressive approach to enforcement of sanctions against Russia, DOJ announced the indictment of a TV producer for violations of the Crimea-Related Russian sanctions program. As outlined in the indictment, Jack Hanick, a former Fox News executive, was indicted for a sanctions violations stemming from his long-time relationship with a prohibited Russian oligarch (Specially Designated National) relating to the creation and...
