The issue of deterrence is easy to boil down – a company pays a fine of $500 million for illegal conduct and continues on its merry way. If the same company pays the same fine of $500 million and three of its top executives are prosecuted, convicted, and sent to jail, then the value of deterrence has increased significantly. Common sense tells us that deterrence...

PTC, a Massachusetts software company, reached settlements with the SEC and DOJ last week for FCPA violations for a total of $28 million. Interestingly, the SEC announced a DPA with a PTC official who assisted in the investigation. DOJ also reappeared on the FCPA enforcement radar with a non-prosecution agreement and collection of a $14 million fine. The SEC reached a $14 million settlement with...

The Vimpelcom FCPA enforcement action is stunning in its breadth and the brazen nature of the bribery scheme. It is hard to accept that such conduct stretched into 2011 to 2013, given the significant emphasis placed on anti-corruption enforcement in the corporate governance world. It is easy to ask but hard to imagine how many other major companies are operating with such flimsy attention to...

Webinar: March 9, 2016, 12 Noon EST Sign Up Here FCPA enforcement actions provide important compliance tips and reminders for anti-corruption compliance programs. In this webinar, we will review FCPA enforcement actions for the last few years and present a number of important compliance program tips and reminders. Join Michael Volkov, CEO of The Volkov Law Group, for a discussion of FCPA enforcement actions and...

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...