Most compliance programs include some form of internal compliance committee separate from the company’s audit committee. An internal compliance committee can play a very important role in advancing a compliance program. But there are a number of pitfalls in how such committees are organized and how they operate. Let’s start with one critical preliminary question: Does your company’s compliance program have the full support of...
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. – Albert Einstein The human spirit must prevail over technology. – Albert Einstein Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them. – Steve Jobs Believe it or not, these quotes concerning...
Webinar: Conflicts of Interest — Effective Strategies to Mitigate Risks Wednesday, October 16, 2019 12 Noon EST Sign Up HERE 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,...
OFAC’s aggressive enforcement program continues to bear fruit. The latest settlement involved GE and three of its subsidiaries, which agreed to pay $2.7 million for 289 alleged violations of the Cuba Sanctions Program. (Copy of Settlement Notice Here). So far this year, OFAC has settled 22 cases for a total of approximately $1.28 billion (Statistics Here). Between 2010 and 2014, the GE companies accepted payment...
In July 2019, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division issued its Guidance for Evaluation of Compliance Programs. Based on this comprehensive document, companies need to review and enhance their antitrust compliance programs to address risks of anti-competitive cartel activity, including price-fixing, bid-rigging, territorial and customer allocations. In this Episode, Mike Volkov reviews the elements of an antitrust compliance programs and provides practical advice for implementing an...
Westport Fuel Systems, a Canadian clean fuel technology company, and its former CEO, Nancy Gougarty, agreed to settle FCPA charges with the SEC for $4.1 million and $120k, respectively. Starting in 2016, Westport, through Gougarty and others, engaged in a scheme to bribe a Chinese foreign government official to obtain business and a cash dividend from Westport’s joint venture in China. Westport’s largest joint venture...
Quad/Graphics, a Wisconsin print and digital marketing company agreed to pay the SEC almost $10 million to settle FCPA charges for foreign bribery violations in Peru and China. (Here). Quad/Graphics also violated OFAC sanctions violations for transactions involving a Cuban telecommunications company. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Quad/Graphics under its FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (Here). During the period of 2011 to 2016, Quad/Graphics failed...
Barclays joined the club of global financial institutions settling FCPA violations for hiring of relatives of foreign officials in Asia. Barclays agreed to disgorge $3.8 million and paid prejudgment interest of nearly $1 million and a $1.5 million civil penalty. As outlined in the SEC settlement order (here), Barclays Asia Pacific Region hired 117 job candidates referred by or connected to foreign government officials or...
In a record setting FCPA enforcement day, the SEC settled three separate FCPA enforcement actions on Friday, September 27, 2019. The three cases involved: Quad/Graphics, a Wisconsin company; Barclays Bank, a global bank, and Westport Energy, a clean energy company, and its former CEO, Nancy Gougarty. Each of the cases involved interesting enforcement facts and situations. in this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews each case and...
In an interesting SEC FCPA settlement action, Sridhar Thiruvengadam, the former COO of Cognizant Technology, agreed to pay a $50K penalty for his role in the bribery scheme involving the payment of $2 million to a government official in India in exchange for the issuance of a planning permit needed for the construction of Cognizant’s new office location in Chennai, India. Early this year, Cognizant...
