The HP FCPA settlement was not your run-of-the-mill enforcement action.  The blogosphere has been filled with different analyses and interpretations.  Client alerts have been taking shots at coming up with original ideas and takeaways. HP is an unusual settlement for the following reasons: 1.  The Three-Part settlement is highly unusual and reflects the Justice Department’s assessment of HP’s conduct. 2.  No matter how HP (and...

I am married to a lovely Sicilian-born woman.  One thing her family has taught me – the value of family loyalty and love. That same principle does not apply when it comes to the relationship between the Apple Monitor and Apple.  In a rare public filing, the external monitor for Apple recently filed his first report with the court overseeing Apple’s antitrust compliance program as...

Webinar: April 29, 2014, 12 Noon EST Managing Your Anti-Corruption Compliance Policies and Procedures  Sign Up Here In response to the aggressive enforcement environment, companies have adopted robust anti-corruption policies and procedures. As always, the effectiveness of a company’s policies depends on implementation, management and monitoring of its policies. Companies need to fine-tune, monitor and adapt their policies and procedures to their risk assessment, audit...

It is odd how a foreign crisis can have a dramatic impact on the world of ethics and compliance.  Foreign policy headaches turn into compliance nightmares when the United States becomes embroiled in foreign events. For years, under the Obama Administration, sanctions have become the weapon of choice in foreign crises.  Congress and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) are players in...

Anti-corruption compliance is not as hard as it looks.  In fact, by taking a step back, compliance professionals can gain insights. At the direction of compliance professionals, companies like to develop and adopt compliance policies and procedures.  Compliance policies and procedures give the board, senior managers and the CCO a feeling of comfort.  They are gaining a measure of control over something they have identified...

AML enforcement often includes sanctions violations.  The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) is responsible for regulating and enforcing the sanctions regime. OFAC has played a critical role in ramping up AML enforcement against major financial institutions.  Major enforcement actions have been built on OFAC violations. HSBC Holdings paid OFAC $375 million as part of its record AML settlement with US prosecutors; ING Bank forfeited...

Companies with ineffective internal controls face risks of embezzlement and self-dealing by employees, bribery, export control violations and other possible legal violations.  The payment of foreign bribes often occurs in companies that have weak internal controls. A company’s internal controls have to provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of the company’s financial reporting and its financial statements.  The FCPA’s books and records requirement extends to...

Lawyers, compliance professionals and senior management at companies can be obsessive when it comes to the threat of criminal liability.  Please do not get me wrong, I am not minimizing the risk of criminal prosecution, nor I am suggesting that everyone go out and start paying bribes overseas. That being said, it is important to keep things in perspective.  The most significant FCPA prosecutions –...

The FCPA Guidance is an extraordinary document filled with excellent ideas, defined safe harbors and important enforcement and compliance principles.   It is a lesson in good government, and a testament to an instructive process for government and business communications and interaction. The hypothetical scenarios and basic advice set out in the document have provided valuable insights to FCPA practitioners.  At the same time, the FCPA...

The Justice Department and the financial regulatory agencies have sent a strong message of enforcement, suggesting that financial institutions are not adequately implementing AML compliance controls. The message was heard all the way up to corporate boardrooms.  The question now is what is the industry going to do to improve their compliance programs.  This is not rocket science, and the financial industry knows full well...