Corruption, Crime & Compliance

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11 Aug, 2015

Supreme Court Called Upon to Review the Newman Case and Address Insider Trading Liability

The Supreme Court is very likely to enter into the fray over the Second Circuit’s controversial Newman decision concerning insider-trading liability. The government has filed a petition for certiorari, and the stakes are high. Insider trading liability for unauthorized disclosures to tip recipients (‘tipees”) flows from the common sense notion that an insider cannot engage, directly or indirectly, in insider trading by personally benefitting from...

General

11 Aug, 2015

Why is it So ($&#%*!) to Hard to Hire People in Compliance?

Maurice Gilbert, head of Conselium Executive Search (here), the leading executive search firm for compliance professionals, has written a fascinating piece on the difficulty in hiring compliance professionals. He was gracious enough to allow me to reprint it for CCC blog readers. Maurice maintains the highly popular blog, Corporate Compliance Insights (here), and can be reached at [email protected]. As managing partner of an executive search...

General

10 Aug, 2015

The Time is Now to Amend the US Sentencing Guidelines on Corporate Ethics and Compliance Programs

We all know the importance of the sentencing guidelines and the impact the revisions, especially the 2010 amendments, have had on corporate governance and compliance. The history behind the sentencing guidelines tracks the rise of the compliance profession. The time is now for the Sentencing Commission to launch a further review of the guidelines to reflect the rapid changes in the compliance profession. The Sentencing...

General

9 Aug, 2015

5 Signs Your Anti-Corruption Compliance Program is Suffering from “Tunnel Vision”

Many companies, depending on the industry, have implemented anti-corruption compliance programs. Some of the programs meet the standard for an “effective” anti-corruption compliance program. There is a vast difference between getting a program implemented on paper and an “effective” anti-corruption compliance program. After all, when you boil it down, anti-corruption compliance is not as difficult a task as everyone thinks. Some programs are immature, some...

General

8 Aug, 2015

Reminder: Webinar Managing Private Equity Corruption Risks — Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 Time: 12 Noon EST Sign Up Here Justice Department and SEC prosecutors are devoting greater attention to private equity FCPA enforcement. This coincides with increased SEC regulation and examination of the private equity industry. Private equity companies face significant corruption risks in global markets. From sovereign wealth funds to portfolio companies, private equity compliance officers have to design and implement...

General

6 Aug, 2015

Mead Johnson: Baby Formula and Bribes

Last week, the SEC announced a settlement of an FCPA enforcement action for $12 million against Mead Johnson Nutrition for payment of bribes in China to health care professionals at state-owned hospitals. Mead Johnson’s illegal payments were intended to increase referrals by Chinese physicians and healthcare officials of Mead Johnson products, and obtain access to marketing and personal information about expectant and recent mothers. Over...

General

5 Aug, 2015

DOJ’s Disdain for “Paper” Compliance Programs

As we come to the close of the Obama Administration, the Justice Department will certainly be able to point to its record of aggressive white-collar enforcement in a variety of areas. One glaring claim omission from that list will be prosecution of senior executives tied to financial institutions responsible for the financial demise in the late 2000s. With that one big exception, across the board...

General

4 Aug, 2015

Cecil the Lion and Due Diligence Failures

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at the Volkov Law Group, joins us again for a guest post. Lauren’s profile is here and she can be reached at [email protected]. The “I didn’t know” defense is a tough one to sustain. Maybe you didn’t “know,” but should you have known? Were all the signs there but you looked the other way? Should you have asked more questions? Is...

General

3 Aug, 2015

Berger FCPA Settlement: Back to the Future

The recent Louis Berger International FCPA settlement highlighted once again the serious consequences from systemic bribery violations, the ease with which bribery schemes can be carried out, and the risks facing all global companies, especially those involved in high-risk industries like construction projects. Berger agreed to pay $17 million to settle the case and agreed to a three-year corporate monitor. Interestingly, at the same time...

General

2 Aug, 2015

Political Cynicism and DOJ’s Appointment of an Internal “Compliance Program” Expert

I am neither bitter nor cynical but I do wish there was less immaturity in political thinking – Franklin D. Roosevelt. Maybe I am turning cynical in my old age. Maybe I just do not believe that government agencies make decisions for the right reason without sticking a finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. I really do not know...