I am pleased to announce the release by NAVEX Global of a new white paper that I authored — How to Develop the Business Case for a Third-Party Risk Management System. Download the white paper HERE. This comprehensive white paper helps you make an educated case to senior management and your board to budget for an automated system. You’ll also learn how to set up...

I will admit it – I changed this posting from its original draft.  I intended to write about the absence of any OFAC enforcement actions for 2018.  I went to double-check the OFAC enforcement website (here), and lo and behold, OFAC snuck its first enforcement action of 2018 – dated June 6, 2018 against Ericsson, Inc. for $145,983. Before the Ericsson enforcement action, OFAC had...

Greetings, We’re proud to announce the Volkov Law Group is now an official partner of Compliance Next. Compliance Next is a community-driven network supporting compliance professionals at any stage of their careers with regulatory updates, legally approved policy templates, and how-to resources that drive program and career growth. If you haven’t already, become a member of this free community to access hundreds of valuable resources,...

Webinar: Update on Iran Sanctions Program Tuesday, June 26, 2018, 12 Noon EST Sign Up Here On May 8, 2018, the Trump Administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and to began to reimpose the U.S. nuclear-related sanctions that were lifted to effectuate the JCPOA sanctions relief, following a wind-down period. Global companies have to update their trade compliance programs to ensure...

Sometimes it takes a large enforcement action to underscore basic and important anti-corruption compliance principles.  The Société Générale enforcement action demonstrated two important principles – the dangers of a weak corporate culture and the need to apply basic third-party risk management practices to respond to and resolve red flags when they occur. Absence of Culture of Ethics: Société Générale’s culture, as described in the Statement...

Société Générale and Legg Mason carried out a massive bribery scheme to pay Gaddafi-era government officials in Libya in exchange for large investments by Libya government funds.  In total, Société Générale and Legg Mason paid over $90 million in bribes in exchange for over $3.6 billion in investments and profits of over $500 million. The Bribery Scheme In a lengthy factual statement, the government, Société...

In a one-two punch of FCPA enforcement actions, the Justice Department announced two related FCPA settlements involving Société Générale and Legg Mason for Gaddafi-era bribery payments to Libyan officials. In the first settlement announced, Société Générale agreed to pay a total of $860 million in criminal penalties, $585 million for FCPA violations and $275 million in a separate investigation for manipulation of London InterBank Offered...

An increasing number of chief compliance officers report directly on a monthly basis to the Chief Executive Officer.  As the compliance profession has earned independence and empowerment, CCOs are now part of the C-Suite and need to develop a positive relationship with the CEO to support the company’s ethics and compliance program. In doing so, CCOs need to ask themselves two important questions: (1) what...

There are an infinite number of ways that corporations can end up violating the law resulting in a government enforcement action.  There is no way to define the nature and extent of all of these possibilities. But one thing for sure is that when a company’s leadership is not committed to compliance, falsely believes that its compliance program is effective, or simply ignores information suggesting...

We need to start giving compliance a better foundation of basic knowledge, strategies and practical approaches. The compliance profession can adopt common solutions to problems for different companies.  The fact that companies have their own distinct risk profiles and operations does not mean that they have to rely on distinct compliance solutions.  No two companies are alike – that does not mean that the same...