Target’s consumer data breach was massive in scope and impact – 70 million consumers had their payment information hacked/stolen, along with other personal information.  Federal and state regulators are now picking through the morass to assign blame, responsibility and extract penalties and promises of reforms and improvements. Recent press reports have revealed that Target’s senior management had been warned internally about vulnerabilities in its payment...

With the end of the Avon case fast approaching, the expected settlement of over $100 million includes some important lessons learned for companies in the middle of internal investigations and negotiations with the government. The most recent lesson learned for companies under investigation is to avoid public negotiations with the government.  It is always a no win proposition and typically results in a greater loss....

The Justice Department and the SEC continue the drumbeat encouraging companies to voluntarily disclose potential FCPA violations.  Of course, the reason for their position is obvious – they want to know about every violation, no matter what size and to what extent.  If I were still a prosecutor, I would say the same thing. However, there is a lot more nuance to the issue, especially...

The SEC knows that it has broad enforcement authority.  In the FCPA arena, the SEC has civil authority over bribes, but more importantly, enforcement authority over books and records and internal controls.  It is this latter concept – “internal controls” which can be stretched and used against companies and individuals in some pretty bizarre ways. Relying on the authority of an internal controls investigation, the...

The healthcare industry has been an innovative leader in developing compliance tools and strategies.  They have come by it honestly – prosecutors and HHS-OIG have been pounding on pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, hospices, and doctors for years. The industry has a target on its back and each year the government extracts more penalties, jail time and Corporate integrity Agreements from...

Life is filled with ups and downs.  Compliance officers know this and are familiar with riding the roller coaster.  Compliance “failures” are inevitable. If you look at any company’s internal investigation case mix, you will see a laundry list of compliance problems, most of which center around human resource issues.  That is to be expected. The internal investigation case mix is only the tip of...

Sometimes our experiences provide important lessons that we can apply in our current job. As a federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, criminologists were pushing the “broken windows” theory of law enforcement: that serious crimes were more likely to occur in areas where minor crimes (petty misdemeanors) were ignored or not enforced.  It is a theory that then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani put into practice in...

Here is an update on past webinars and scheduled webinars.  I always post my webinars on my You Tube Channel Here Building an Anti-Corruption Compliance Program, February 18, 2014, 12 Noon EST,  Sign Up Here Companies face many risks in the anti-corruption enforcement arena. With the growing globalization of anti-corruption enforcement, companies are responding quickly by enhancing their anti-corruption compliance programs. Companies need to develop practical...

Financial institutions, investment banks, private equity firms and hedge funds are having a rough time.  Things are just not going well for them.  While the economic outlook is turning positive, the enforcement atmosphere is casting a black cloud over boardrooms and senior management in the financial industry. In recent statements from the Justice Department and regulatory officials, prosecutors and regulators have warned the industry that...

Chief Ethics and Compliance Officers are giddy these days – the push for empowerment: independence and resources is continuing to succeed.  Of course, the transformation will take time. Corporate boards and senior executives have to be educated and convinced that increasing compliance spending is a priority.  Given all of the competing concerns, this is no easy task. In arguing their respective cases, CECOs have to...