Webinar: Best Practices for Conducting Remote Internal Investigations July 28, 2020, 12 Noon EST Sign Up Here In this pandemic era, global companies have been challenged to maintain a reliable and effective internal investigation program. Companies have relied on remote investigation strategies to collect and review documents and conduct interviews. In conducting remote investigations, companies have to ensure that they follow investigation requirements, maintain confidentiality...

The Justice Department has continued at a steady rate to tweak relevant policies applicable to FCPA enforcement.  The Revised FCPA Guidance has incorporated these policies. FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy and Declinations (pp. 51-54) The FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy is quickly becoming “a well-established” framework.  DOJ has expanded it to cover all corporate criminal resolutions except for criminal antitrust violations. The FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”)...

Over the last eight years, FCPA litigation has increased.  Companies are still avoiding the risks of litigation and losing to the Justice Department and the SEC.  Individuals, on the other hand, have clear incentives to challenge DOJ’s FCPA interpretations, where appropriate, and they have done so. The Revised FCPA Guidance incorporates these new cases throughout the text and its numerous footnotes.  The major additions include:...

Novartis is the new poster-child of corporate misconduct.  In the space of two weeks, Novartis settled domestic False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback violations for $729 million, and settled FCPA violations for foreign bribery for $337 million. In the domestic False Claims Act and AKS cases, Novartis resolved two separate cases: one for illegal payments made to three foundations used to pay for patients’ co-payments in...

The Alexion Pharmaceutical SEC FCPA enforcement action represents another in the long line of enforcement actions against drug and device companies.  The drug and device industries have been – and will continue to be — easy marks for prosecutors to investigate and prosecute for foreign bribery.  There are a number of reason for this. First, global drug and device depend on interactions with foreign healthcare...

Notwithstanding the pandemic and remote working arrangements, the Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing to bring FCPA enforcement actions.  In its latest action, the SEC settled with Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $21 million for foreign bribery and books and records violations.  Alexion is a global pharmaceutical company.  Its first drug, Soliris was approved to treat two ultra-rare diseases, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (“PNH”), which causes red blood...

Catching Up with DOJ Compliance Program Guidance Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 12 Noon EST Sign Up HERE The Justice Department has issued two sets of important revisions to its compliance program guidance. First, on July 1, 2020, DOJ announced revisions to its 2019 Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Program Guidance. Second, on July 3, 2020, DOJ and the SEC released a Second Edition of its FCPA...