The SEC trumpets its FCPA enforcement program. It wants to send a message to the business community. Make no mistake – businesses have heard the message. But what is the SEC doing when it comes to bread and butter issues like accounting fraud. In the early 2000s, the SEC aggressively prosecuted accounting fraud schemes committed by companies such as WorldCom and Enron. Politicians were forced to respond to...
It is troubling to see how many lawyers are unable to question a witness. It is an acquired skill which reflects a lawyer’s experience and interpersonal skills. Lawyers are not sensitive souls. They have a hard time reading people because they are not so comfortable with themselves (some may say that is why they entered the practice of law). That does not apply to every lawyer. There...
“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...
