The SEC has been flexing its muscles lately. If you had some of the enforcement tools the SEC has, you would be doing the same. What am I referring to? The FCPA statute includes broad provisions requiring companies to maintain adequate internal controls and accurate books and records. If taken literally, these prohibitions can be applied to many situations to support aggressive SEC enforcement actions....
I was honored to participate in a brief podcast conducted by the MIS Training Institute, the International Leader in Audit and Security Training. The link to the podcast is here.
If there is one area where I would like to see improvement in the corporate governance world, it has to be at the corporate board level. While companies are expanding internal compliance programs, companies fail to take a hard look at their own corporate board performance beyond rote and well-established self-assessment models. Corporate boards have to be held accountable for their performance and commitment to...
With the rise of OFAC Sanctions enforcement and compliance issues, companies have to devote significant resources to following changes in OFAC Sanctions. Over the last few years, the US government has significantly altered the sanctions landscape with the Iran Nuclear Treaty, and major changes in its relationship with Cuba and Myanmar (Burma). Since the major changes have been announced or implemented, there have been continuing...
As we continue to operate under the Yates Memorandum, a number of interesting and difficult issues are sure to develop surrounding internal investigations and individual culpability. Corporate internal investigations have to focus on all potentially culpable individuals. Many commentators have incorrectly suggested that the Yates Memorandum will not have an impact on corporate internal investigations and the Justice Department’s prosecution of individuals. These commentators are...
I hate to pick on lawyers. I have been practicing law for nearly 35 years. I have worked with and met a lot of lawyers, some great, some good and some not so good. Lawyers can sometimes be their own worst enemies. When lawyers engage in ‘territorial” battles, or controversies over petty issues, they always lose, no matter what the result. A confident professional will...
Happy 4th of July to everyone! We are lucky and privileged to live in such a great country. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday with family and friends. All the best!!!
The Volkov Law Group would like to applaud the efforts of its own Susan Simpson, as well as the rest of the Undisclosed: The State v. Adnan Syed team, for uncovering critical facts that led a Maryland Judge to grant Adnan Syed a new trial yesterday. Adnan Syed, whose story inspired the now-famous podcast Serial (and subsequently the Undisclosed podcast), was convicted of the 1999 murder,...
Analogic Corp. and its Danish subsidiary, BK Medical ApS, settled an FCPA enforcement action last week with the Justice Department and the SEC for approximately $14 million. Analogic agreed to pay $3.4 million to the Justice Department as part of a non-prosecution agreement (NPA), and paid the SEC approximately $11.4 million in disgorgement and interest. Lars Frost, a former CFO at BK Medical, settled an...
Humans have a tendency to make things more complicated than they really are. To capture the flavor of my sentiment, all you need to do is watch the beginning scenes of “History of the World, Part I” by Mel Brooks (Here) to see how simple life was in the early history of man. Returning to the serious subject of compliance, there are some who argue...
