OFAC is capable of extending a long-arm of enforcement, reaching sometimes non-U.S. companies that may “cause” another company to violate U.S. Sanctions laws. If you need to find an example of this long reach, look no further than last week’s OFAC settlement with SCG Plastics (“SCG”), in which SCG, a Thailand company, which sells plastic resins, agreed to pay $20 million for violations of the...
The Justice Department has a long and rich history of targeting dominant companies using antitrust monopolization tools — looking back to the 1980s, it was AT&T; in the 1990s, it was Microsoft; and in 2023, DOJ has brought a monopolization case against Google; and meanwhile the FTC filed monopolization cases against Facebook and Amazon. DOJ has now turned to Apple and its dominance in the...
As DOJ, OFAC and BIS ramp up sanctions and export controls enforcement, they have continued to provide important compliance guidance. You have to give the enforcement agencies credit — on the one hand, they regularly warn of the coming enforcement storm and aggressive push against companies and individuals; and on the other hand, they provide significant compliance guidance. Over the last five years, DOJ, OFAC...
On the heels of the Gunvor FCPA settlement for $661 million, DOJ announced its settlement with Trafigura, the latest commodities trading company to fall under DOJ’s FCPA Sweep against the industry. Trafigura joined the list of international commodity trading companies to suffer FCPA enforcement actions — Vitol, Sargeant Marine, Glencore, Freepoint, and Gunvor. DOJ’s corporate resolutions are connected to individual prosecutions and guilty pleas of...
The Justice Department is rightly trumpeting its successful sweep of the commodities trading industry. DOJ’s success is reflected in its six separate corporate resolutions and 20 individual convictions, resulting in over $1.7 billion in penalties. Companies in the global commodities trading industry should take heed of DOJ’s focus. Every significant player in the industry, if not under investigation, should audit and review their operations. Those...
Trafigura’s bribery scheme resembles the same schemes implemented by its significant competitors — Vitol, Glencore, Gunvor. At the core of the conduct, Petrobras and Brazilian government officials collected bribes in exchange for valuable contracts for Petrobras oil. The factual statement reflects DOJ’s extensive knowledge base in the international commodity trading industry — DOJ had access to several significant cooperating witnesses, including Petrobras officials and trader...
On the heels of the Gunvor FCPA settlement for $661 million, DOJ announced its settlement with Trafigura, the latest commodities trading company to fall under DOJ’s FCPA Sweep against the industry. Trafigura joined the list of international commodity trading companies to suffer FCPA enforcement actions — Vitol, Sargeant Marine, Glencore, Freepoint, and Gunvor. DOJ’s corporate resolutions are connected to individual prosecutions and guilty pleas of...
In a recent speech, on March 7, 2024, Deputy Attorney General Monaco announced that DOJ would be implementing in the next 90 days a new whistleblower program to reward reporting of criminal misconduct at both public and private companies. In particular DOJ will encourage reporting of potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and the recently-enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (“FEPA”). AAG Monaco...
Daniela Melendez, an Associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a posting on the SEC’s new climate disclosure rules. Daniela can be reached at [email protected]. After months and months of deliberations and negotiations, the SEC finally issued its final rules for climate disclosures. The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investor (“the final rule”). The SEC navigated a series of political landmines...
DOJ has been on a public relations campaign to push a simple message for corporations: if companies learn of misconduct, companies should disclose such misconduct to earn valuable benefits. The quintessential question remains — should companies disclose misconduct to the Department of Justice or should the company remediate the misconduct and maintain its silence? DOJ’s campaign is intended to push companies to reconsider this balance...
