Webinar: Antitrust Division Announces New Policy to Credit Compliance Programs July 30, 2019, 12 Noon EST Sign Up HERE In yet another major compliance development, the Justice Department announced the adoption of a new policy to credit effective compliance programs in resolving criminal cartel prosecutions against corporations. Since the 1990s, the Antitrust Division’s policy regarding corporate compliance programs was generally fixed given the ability of...

Companies face significant challenges in managing their third party risk programs.  As companies improve their systems and automate their programs, they continue to face difficult situations in deciding when to conduct enhanced due diligence reviews of a potential third-party.  DOJ and the SEC have provided extensive guidance in the third-party risk area, but companies have to develop and implement their own approach to deciding when...

It is easy to get swept up into compliance trends, prognosticators of the future, and future compliance terms such as “artificial intelligence,” or “blockchain.”  Do not get me wrong, these are the terms for the future and eventually they will be part of common compliance conversations. But sometimes we need to get back to basics.  In some cases, Chief Compliance Officers need to remind themselves...

OFAC is clearly sending a message about sanctions enforcement and compliance responsibilities.  OFAC is aggressively seeking out new targets for enforcement.  OFAC continues to focus on Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea, aligning itself with current foreign policy objectives. Here is a brief outline of three recent enforcement actions: Western Union (HERE) — On June 7, 2019, OFAC released a settlement with Western Union under...

NAVEX Global recently released an important compliance report – 2019 Definitive Corporate Compliance Benchmarking Report (HERE).  NAVEX’s report contains a number of interesting findings and brings together several current compliance trends and themes.  In contrast to focused benchmarking reports, NAVEX’s new report provides a more holistic view of compliance programs.  NAVEX’s new approach reflects the trend of consolidating compliance functions and responsibilities.  As this trend...

Matt Stankiewicz, Senior Associate at the Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for an interesting posting on Facebook’s cryptocurrency plans. Matt can be reached at [email protected]. It was inevitable.  With the continuing growth of the cryptocurrency industry, major corporations were surely going to begin to figure out how best to profit from it.  Facebook has entered the game in a massive way with the announcement of...

So far in 2019, OFAC is sending a strong message about sanctions enforcement and compliance responsibilities. OFAC is aggressively seeking out new targets for enforcement, emphasizing compliance with Cuba and Iran sanctions programs, and focusing on US companies that acquire foreign subsidiaries to ensure post-closing compliance with OFAC sanctions regulations. In this episode Michael Volkov discusses recent trends in OFAC enforcement actions and priorities.

As the blockchain industry continues to grow, we’ll begin to see traditional industries shifting to the blockchain to leverage the technology. Unstoppable domains is a company working to place web domains on the blockchain. Instead of traditional extensions like .com, .net, or .io. Unstoppable Domains will utilize .zil addresses as smart contracts on the Zilliqa public blockchain. This will first provide simple, human-readable crypto wallet...

The Justice Department has been criticized on numerous occasions about its approach to criminal investigations and prosecutions.  In a recent decision, the chief judge in the Eastern District of New York criticized DOJ for “outsourcing” criminal investigations to outside counsel who conduct internal investigations under DOJ review.  I have long predicted that courts would eventually impose criminal procedural protections in the context of criminal internal...

Last week, on June 25, 2019, TechnipFMC agreed to settle FCPA violations with the Justice Department for $296 million that occurred in Iraq and Brazil.  TechnipFMC was created in 2017 through the merger of Technip, a French company, and FMC Technologies, a Houston-based company. The SEC’s investigation is still pending. The combined FCPA settlement was the result of separate FCPA violations by each of the...