Corruption, Crime & Compliance

Featured Articles:

22 Jan, 2017

Lessons Learned and Compliance Trends from the VW and Takata Scandals (Part III of III)

When unraveling a major corporate scandal, especially multi-year schemes involving senior executives, the blame game or lessons learned approach can easily turn into a fruitless exercise. The VA and Takata scandals are important reminders of basic compliance and governance requirements. If carefully considered, they underscore the reasons why compliance programs exist and why an effective program is so critical in today’s global economy. My list...

Events

20 Jan, 2017

NAVEX Global Webinar: 2017 — An Evolving Landscape for Third Party Risk Management

Join us for this free webinar where we’ll discuss how a new administration and anticipated enforcement and regulatory changes will impact your third party due diligence programs. Register HERE Register to hear information on: Potential impacts of the Trump administration on compliance Changes to FCPA enforcement approaches Disgorgement trends Yates Memo impacts Upcoming regulatory changes Not only will we discuss what’s happening in the world...

General

20 Jan, 2017

Takata – Criminal Airbag Scheme and Innocent Consumer Harm (Part II of III)

In my continuing review of corporate misconduct in the automobile industry, today we examine the Takata Corporation scandal for its airbag scheme. Takata is a manufacturer and supplier of automotive safety equipment. It agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud and pay $1 billion in criminal penalties for its long-time scheme to sell defective airbag inflators. At the same time, the Justice Department announced the...

General

18 Jan, 2017

Volkswagen: When Car Companies Veer Off Course (Part I of III)

Corporate misconduct occurs in a variety of forms. Starting with the basic truism – companies act through people, and when companies engage in misconduct it requires the coordination and collaboration of multiple actors. The scope of such misconduct can vary, of course, and the greater the extent of the misconduct, the more actors are involved. The auto industry’s record on safety misconduct is legendary, stretching...

General

17 Jan, 2017

Multi-Jurisdictional Prosecutions and the SFO Show Teeth in Rolls Royce Settlement

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at the Volkov Law Group, joins us again for a posting on the Rolls Royce Anti-Corruption Settlement. Lauren can be reached at [email protected]. Rolls Royce’s $800 million global settlement further solidifies what the future of anti-bribery and corruption enforcement looks like: multi-jurisdictional prosecutions based on egregious conduct supported by strong evidence. The similarities to the recent Odebrecht – Braskem $3.5 billion...

General

16 Jan, 2017

Mondelez FCPA Enforcement Action — An Abuse of Prosecutorial Discretion?

The first FCPA enforcement action for 2017 landed with very little fanfare. The SEC reached a settlement with Mondelez International for $13 million. The facts surround the hiring of an agent in India and the failure of Mondelez to monitor and conduct basic due diligence on the third-party agent. Kraft Foods acquired Cadbury, a UK candy and beverage company. Kraft Foods renamed itself Mondelez after...

General

15 Jan, 2017

The Real Explanation for the Record Year for FCPA Enforcement

I am not an “I told you so” person – frankly, it is a very unattractive character trait. I am more comfortable with the old adage – even a broken clock is correct twice a day. I fall into that category. All the FCPA prognosticators, predictors and paparazzi have missed the boat on understanding what happened this year – 2016, to make this a record...

General

11 Jan, 2017

Tom Fox and Mike Volkov on FCPA Enforcement and Compliance Year in Review — 2016

Tom Fox and I recorded a podcast review of FCPA enforcement in 2016 and predictions for 2017. It is a pleasure to speak with Tom and share are professional perspectives. You can listen HERE. Thanks

General

10 Jan, 2017

Predicting the Future: What Would Truly Global Anti-Corruption Enforcement Look Like?

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, joins us with a posting on the recent Odebrecht settlement. Lauren can be reached at [email protected]. Within the SEC and DOJ’s blockbuster ending to 2016 was the Odebrecht settlement. The amount involved, a stunning $4.5 billion (pending a possible reduction for inability to pay), grabbed headlines around the world. But more interesting than the final figure...

General

9 Jan, 2017

Compliance Trends and Predictions for 2017

The past year was another great success for the compliance profession and related technologies. Compliance continues to grow as the “professionalization” of compliance continues to skyrocket. As my good friend Donna Boehme always reminds me, compliance professionals have the requisite subject matter expertise that many other professionals such as lawyers and auditors lack. I often remind compliance professionals of the old saying – “Be careful...