Last year was the year of Bank Secrecy, sanctions and anti-Money Laundering enforcement.  The HSBC settlement sparked significant controversy over the claim by the Justice Department that HSBC and other banks are “too big to jail.”  Below the high-profile cases, there is another phenomena occurring – a resurgence in regulatory enforcement against banks and other financial institutions. With this constellation of enforcement – high-profile mega-cases...

I have reprinted below an article I wrote this week for Corporate Counsel — link is here I thought the debate was over on this issue: The train has clearly left the station for the “best practice” of separating the legal and compliance functions—empowering a separate chief compliance officer with direct reporting authority to the board of directors. As a former prosecutor and now defense...

Talk about a way to start off FCPA enforcement in 2013.  The Department of Justice has sent an emphatic message: Just when you think things are slowing down, they come out and surprise you. I hate to say it but I predicted the BizJet indictments back at a n October 2012 seminar in Houston.  Tom Fox and Dan Chapman from Parker Drilling are my witnesses....

April 23 and 25, 12 Noon -1 PM EST Register Here (April 23) or Here (April 25) The Department of Justice’s and the SEC’s FCPA Guidance issued last November, 2012, outlined the hallmarks of an “effective” anti-corruption compliance program. In the FCPA Guidance, the Justice Department and the SEC suggested that an “effective” anti-corruption compliance program could protect a company from liability for an FCPA...

Sometimes the legal profession reminds me of the medieval guild system – a profession which is motivated more by self-preservation than change.  You can always count on lawyers who cling to an outmoded perspective to try to stall inevitable change. Make no mistake about the current trend in compliance – companies are now embracing change to empower chief compliance officers and create independent lines of...

Compliance professionals have a lot of demands on their time. By definition, they are spread thin across a number of competing demands.  As a result, companies do not spend much time on “tone-at-the-top.” In reality, compliance officers are relieved when they get the support of the CEO, and the ability to cite the CEO’s commitment to compliance.  Often the CEO’s support translates into resources and...

Try to imagine what DaVinci said to himself when he painted his last brush stroke on the Mona Lisa.  Or consider what Tolstoy muttered to himself when he put down his pen after writing the last word of War and Peace. Consider the same scenario when a Chief Compliance Officer and his/her team have designed and implemented their third-party due diligence system.  Beginning with a...

Hospitals are under intense scrutiny.  The federal government knows that one sure way to reduce healthcare costs is to get hospitals to lower their costs.  Hospitals feel the pinch given the need to generate revenue but know that the federal government is looking over their shoulders to make sure everything is done right. Hospitals have a significant number of risks.  You have to sympathize with...

Contrary to former candidate Romney’s view of the world (“Corporations are people”), you cannot put a company in jail.  Try as you might, it just can’t be done. How to treat corporations in our criminal justice system is an interesting issue.  Some have even taken the position that corporate criminal liability is misdirected since shareholders are the ones who bear the brunt of any punishment...

It is time for everyone to take a deep breath.  The DOJ/SEC Guidance could not have been clearer.  The message to companies – stop devoting so much time to building, tinkering with, and monitoring their policies governing gifts, meals and entertainment. The Guidance reminded everyone that the government has never prosecuted any company for a single violation, or even a number of violations.  Instead, DOJ...