In-House counsel and corporate compliance officers dodge bullets everyday as they stare down the barrels of aggressive prosecutors, regulators, civil litigants, whistleblowers, disgruntled employees and shareholders prodded by trial attorneys to file derivative suits at the drop of a hat. In the face of all of these risks, internal investigations have become commonplace and a standard defensive tactic for a company to regain some leverage,...

The Obama Administration is committed to increasing criminal enforcement of environmental laws. To that end, the EPA is bringing on fifty additional criminal investigators, bringing the total number of investigators to over two hundred. With these new resources, and a strategic plan focusing on the full range of environmental crimes, corporations and individuals should place a renewed focus on environmental compliance. FY 2010 saw an...

The Obama Administration is committed to increasing criminal enforcement of environmental laws. To that end, the EPA is bringing on fifty additional criminal investigators, bringing the total number of investigators to over two hundred. With these new resources, and a strategic plan focusing on the full range of environmental crimes, corporations and individuals should place a renewed focus on environmental compliance. FY 2010 saw an...

To most it is an obvious point: The purview of criminal law should cover criminal conduct. Yet that point maybe lost on some since, as Chief Judge Alex Kozinski points out, United States v. Goyal, No. 08-10436 (9th Cir. Dec. 10, 2010) is just the latest in a “string of recent cases in which courts have found that federal prosecutors overreached by trying to stretch...

To most it is an obvious point: The purview of criminal law should cover criminal conduct. Yet that point maybe lost on some since, as Chief Judge Alex Kozinski points out, United States v. Goyal, No. 08-10436 (9th Cir. Dec. 10, 2010) is just the latest in a “string of recent cases in which courts have found that federal prosecutors overreached by trying to stretch...

Mark Twain observed correctly about lawyers: “Lawyers are like other people–fools on the average; but it is easier for an ass to succeed in that trade than any other.” When it comes to advising clients in the area of the FCPA and Bribery Act, counseling attorneys are critical players. We play an important role in the end in making sure a company complies with the...

The World Bank said Wednesday it had blacklisted 45 more companies and individuals last year afor corruption activities. For the year, the World Bank initiated 117 investigations last year which resulted in 45 debarments of firms and individuals “for engaging in wrongdoing.” Under a cross-debarment pact signed last year, firms debarred by the World Bank are also automatically denied contracting opportunities at other multilateral development...

If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. — Yogi Berra After all the dust has settled, the political recriminations have been leveled, and the issuance of reams of client alerts by every law firm on the planet, companies are now staring at July 1, 2011, the effective date of the UK Bribery Act. The build up to the...

If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. — Yogi Berra After all the dust has settled, the political recriminations have been leveled, and the issuance of reams of client alerts by every law firm on the planet, companies are now staring at July 1, 2011, the effective date of the UK Bribery Act. The build up to the...

The FCPA Tour takes to the road again.  Join us on April 20 in Palo Alto.  Dick Cassin from the FCPA Blog, Ryan Morgan from World Compliance and myself will be there.  Registration is free. Here is the link FCPA compliance for the tech world has taken on new significance given recent reports of ongoing investigations of tech companies focusing on operations in Asia, as reported...