October 24, 2023 12 Noon EST Sign up HERE The Department of Justice warned global companies of a new, aggressive strategy for enforcement of trade sanctions and export controls. DOJ’s message has been reinforced by the Departments of Treasury (Office of Foreign Asset Control, or “OFAC”) as to sanctions, and the Department of Commerce (Bureau of Industry and Security, or “BIS”), as to export controls....
Call me a skeptic. Call me cynical. I understand that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) provides valuable standardization services and guidance. The ISO is comprised of 169 member countries. The ISO recently issued a new standard governing internal investigations. From my vantage point, I was a critic of ISO 37001, anti-corruption compliance, because of its over-generalization and failure to provide more specific guidance on...
We all agree on the importance of corporate culture. Everyone gets it – corporate leaders mouth the words but rarely understand the nuances, and the need to attend to a company’s culture. Compliance professionals want to devote more time to corporate culture but often are overburdened with less important tasks. It is easy for compliance professionals to get lost in the details, theory, and technology...
The United States continues to suffer from the absence of a federal data privacy and breach law. Congress has tried for years to broker a deal here but has never been able to overcome strong lobbying forces — whether its high-tech, trial lawyers, law enforcement or other gadflies, the public continues to suffer. Instead, global businesses face a real mess, tracking data privacy laws state-by-state,...
The Department of Justice has been relatively quiet this year in announcing corporate FCPA enforcement actions and settlements. Aside from the Ericsson breach of its Deferred Prosecution Agreement, the Corficocolombiana (“Corfico”) and Grupo Aval settlement is the first in 2023 involving a corporate FCPA resolution. For the SEC, the Corfico and Grupo Aval settlement is the sixth corporate resolution in 2023. Corfico and its parent...
Michael Volkov recently was a guest on David Noah’s Podcast, Passages: International Trade, to discuss the SEC’s 3M FCPA Case. You can watch their discussion HERE — A Deeper Look: 3M Corp. Pays SEC $6.5 Million to Resolve FCPA Violations.
Sam Finkelstein, an associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a posting on DOJ’s initiative to increase corporate prosecution of sanctions, export controls and national security issues. Sam can be reached at [email protected]. The marriage of corporate enforcement and national security has been a defining feature of the DOJ under the Biden Administration. The Justice Department’s commitment to prosecuting corporate crimes that implicate...
Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Compliance Manager at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for an interesting posting on BIS’ recent enforcement action against Pratt & Whitney for violation of the antiboycott regulations. Alex can be reached at [email protected]. On September 27, 2023, the United States Department of Commerce’s Office of Antiboycott Compliance, a division of the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), publicized an unanticipated and...
Daniela Melendez, a new Associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for another blog post on DOJ’s first corporate prosecution for violations of the Iran Sanctions Program. Daniela can be reached at [email protected]. The Justice Department has touted the upcoming wave of corporate prosecutions for criminal sanctions violation as the era of “The New FCPA.” DOJ’s reference is intended to communicate a strong message...
In another significant step notifying global businesses of the new realities – companies are about to face aggressive coordinated prosecutions for sanctions and export control violations. The last piece in launching this new effort was the announcement of a joint voluntary disclosure program to ensure alignment among the agencies for civil and criminal enforcement of such violations. The Joint Compliance Note (“JCN”) urges companies to...
