Welcome back to the Department of Justice and FCPA enforcement. After a lengthy hiatus, DOJ returned to the FCPA enforcement scene with a demonstration of its full capability, assuming certain individuals are prosecuted criminally out of the case. (I know technically they reappeared with the PTC non-prosecution agreement but give me a little literary license). Overview In a top-10 worthy enforcement action, DOJ and the...
In this era of shooting-from-the-hip or bombastic Donald Trump comments, companies have to attend to reducing employment litigation risks. In this era of nuisance litigation and employment-focused litigation, companies need to take affirmative steps to reduce employment claims and related litigation. There are three key steps that every company should take in order to reduce employment litigation exposure. Companies have to recognize potential employee concerns...
Every company has put in place a reporting hotline – whether a telephone number and/or website, companies offer employees an avenue to raise a concern. Employees will report concerns, but they have to trust the reporting system to be responsive. When you ask compliance professionals and others who monitor the reporting system if it is valuable, you hear the common statistic – 80 percent of...
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is its own world – even in the area of criminal enforcement. Unlike other areas where criminal enforcement against individuals has lagged, the Antitrust Division has a strong record of prosecuting companies and responsible individuals. Approximately 3 individuals are prosecuted for every company that is criminal prosecuted. That is a pretty strong record. The Antitrust Division’s engine is its...
The SEC is setting its sights on individual prosecutions. Both the Justice Department and the SEC have reiterated the importance of prosecuting individuals. DOJ’s Yates Memorandum promises to deliver an increase in civil and criminal prosecutions. The SEC is delivering on its stated goal of increasing individual prosecutions. In a busy FCPA enforcement week, the SEC settled the SciClone Pharmaceuticals case and a separate prosecution...
In the press of compliance priorities, chief compliance officers have to prioritize what is important and what is not. In some respects, the task of a CCO is a continuous loop of prioritizing tasks. CCOs know that the job is never done – once a set of tasks is done, there is always a new list of tasks that need to be prioritized. One of...
Chief compliance officers and senior executives wrestle with strategies to spread and embed important compliance messages. A CEO and senior executives can spread a compliance message but they are always battling competing priorities in the overall direction and operation of the company. Nonetheless, we all have seen senior managers who are dedicated to promoting a compliance program, particularly in these days of aggressive enforcement. CCOs...
The Securities and Exchange Commission continues its steady march as the prominent FCPA enforcement agency against corporations. The Justice Department has not brought any enforcement actions this year and continues to reevaluate its FCPA compliance program. In an interesting enforcement action, the SEC settled a case with SciClone Pharmaceuticals for $12.8 million for violations occurring in China. Unlike many other SEC enforcement actions, the SEC’s...
Corruption risks follow the money. If a company has effective controls over money, then the company has a good chance of mitigating corruption risks. A key indicator of a company’s internal controls is to ask if the company has suffered any significant fraud in the last five years. If your company has experienced a high fraud rate, the company’s controls may be weak and corruption...
The United Kingdom has a number of interesting ideas and policy initiatives. The UK Bribery Act was a strong statement against corruption, but remains unenforced. The United Kingdom has enacted the Modern Slavery Act, which imposes a number of new requirements on global companies. The Modern Slavery Act is modeled after California’s Transparency in Supply Chains Act, but is much broader in application. The Modern...
