Featured Articles:

Predictions for Anti-Corruption Enforcement for 2016

In all honesty, if I were betting on my predictions, I would be broke. If I were setting the line on the Super Bowl, I am sure I would go bankrupt in paying off bets. With such confidence, you may want to just click  to the new blog post on my colleague Tom Fox’s excellent blog (here) or Matt Ellis’ excellent blog (here), or many...

Happy Holidays — See You Next Year

Happy Holidays to Everyone! We hope you take time from your busy lives to spend time with family and friends. All the best wishes to you and your loved ones. We will resume on Monday, January 4, 2016, as we begin a new year. We appreciate all your support for Corruption, Crime & Compliance.  

Preventing Terrorism with AML Accountability AND Budgeting

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, joins us again for a posting about anti-money laundering (AML), terrorism financing and CCO certifications.  Lauren’s profile is here, and she can be reached at [email protected]. Preventing money from getting to terrorists is a chief goal of AML programs. But at a basic level an AML program is only as strong as its budget, regardless of...

The Dangers of Quick Fix Solutions – Certifications and Compliance Defenses

When the going gets tough, the tough do not necessarily get going. This is evident in the world of corporate governance, compliance, and defense against aggressive government enforcement. Corporate lobbying interests are pushing a new and dangerous agenda, one that is shortsighted and certain to create problems for chief compliance officers. Several years ago the Chamber of Commerce launched an attack on FCPA enforcement with...

Counterfeit Goods: Third Party Due Diligence Beyond the FCPA

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, joins us again for a posting about third-party due diligence.  Lauren’s profile is here, and she can be reached at [email protected]. Most discussions of third party due diligence begin with an explanation of indirect liability and the “deliberate ignorance” standard of knowledge the FCPA imposes. With so much focus on anti-bribery it is easy to lose...

Four Compliance Trends and Challenges for 2016

As we close out the year, it is now time to begin the retrospective reviews and predictions for the New Year. I will try to keep them to a minimum but I find it important to reflect and look forward to new challenges. Compliance is a fast moving profession. More attention is being paid to the compliance function, and more companies are embracing the importance...

Webinar: Anti-Corruption Enforcement and Compliance — The Year in Review

Webinar: Anti-Corruption Enforcement and Compliance — The Year in Review January 5, 2016, 12 noon EST Sign Up Here The past year — 2015 — was another eventful year in global anti-corruption enforcement. While the US Department of Justice enforcement activity slowed, the SEC and other governments increased enforcement activity. DOJ’s enforcement program took some unusual twists with the hiring of a Compliance Counsel and...

Organizational Justice: The Importance of Transparency

You know a company’s culture is suffering when you hear the CEO or senior executives say the best way to develop a “Speak Up” culture is to just tell all the employees “we want to hear from you.” I am an advocate for simplicity but sometimes simplicity can slip into stupidity. A “Speak Up” culture requires a commitment to a number of important principles and...

Now the Only Path to an SEC DPA or NPA: Self-Reporting

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, joins us again for a posting about self-reporting FCPA violations.  Lauren’s profile is here, and she can be reached at [email protected]. One of the critical questions when evaluating a potential FCPA violation is to decide whether to disclose the matter to the Justice Department and the SEC. The SEC recently announced a requirement for companies to voluntarily disclose...

Creating an Ombudsman’s Office

If your company is big enough and has the resources to consider establishing an internal ombudsman’s function, consider yourself lucky. When compliance professionals and lawyers use the term “ombudsman,” it is important to define how the term is being used. The most effective model for an ombudsman is the creation of an entire independent investigation and resolution function within a company. In this model, the...