“Or you got it or you ain’t” — Mel Brooks on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 4, Episode 1 Everyone is scrambling to put together effective anti-corruption compliance programs. The interesting compliance situations are those involving mid-size and small companies, especially those which are privately owned. They are not subject to SEC regulation but nonetheless can face prosecution for bribery violations. If a company is starting...
As a former federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, it is interesting to watch the Operation Fast and Furious controversy unfold on Capitol Hill. Congressional oversight rarely means a search for the truth – it is usually motivated to score political points. When it comes to Operation Fast and Furious, there is a little bit of both – fact-finding and political point making. On...
Imagination is more important than knowledge – Albert Einstein For companies trying to comply with the law, it is difficult to find quality attorneys to help. Forgive me for criticizing my profession but many of my colleagues take refuge in mechanical, non-creative thinking. To be a good lawyer and a value add for a company, we should try and be creative and solve problems. You...
Congress is setting its sights on the Justice Department’s enforcement of the FCPA. The business community has legitimate complaints which they have raised. The Justice Department is sticking to its guns and continuing to trumpet the importance of FCPA enforcement and the fairness of its enforcement program. The Justice Department has to be careful. Unfortunately, this Justice Department has a tin ear when it comes...
It is amazing how professionals try and complicate tasks. The latest fad – “Enterprise Risk Management.” Corporations now have “Risk Officers.” Making ideas more complex does not mean more effective results. Overlapping corporate structures with multiple committees assigned to specific tasks are a compliance nightmare. It is really just a new form of window dressing. To be effective, a compliance program does not need...
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If China is really number 78 in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index rankings, I cannot even imagine the corruption conditions in the countries ranked 79 to 178. Russia stands at 154 out of 178. It should not surprise anyone that China and Russia are perceived as highly corrupt business environments. As former communist states, the underground or “black” market was a fact of life...
The steady drumbeat of compliance continues – comply, comply and comply. The refrain goes even deeper – document, document, document. But can you imagine when the “rational” decision maker decides to continue engaging in bribery, or turning a blind eye to continuing bribery. Let’s examine a possible scenario. “Assume” (in the economists favorite refrain) that a company sells a product in a highly competitive market...
Much has been written about the Laura Stevens case. You will remember that she was in-house counsel for Glaxo Smith Kline and indicted for obstruction of justice and false statements for submitting an incomplete response to an FDA inquiry letter concerning off-label marketing tactics. The federal judge in Maryland granted a Rule 29 Motion for Judgment of Acquittal and rebuked the prosecutors for bringing the...
The increase in FCPA enforcement has lead to the growth in the legal cottage industry surrounding compliance and enforcement. More and more companies are advertising their due diligence services, their intelligence gathering services, and their overall ability to help companies comply with the law. Lawyers are guilty of this mass marketing hysteria. Webinars are offered every week; boot camps and other meetings are scheduled every quarter...
