The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ramped up its battle against online poker sites. Some cynical commentators have cited one reason for DOJ’s aggressive stance – money! Let’s look at the facts – last year, the Department collected over $1 billion in fines and disgorgement from just its top-8 FCPA settlements. In its case against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, DOJ seized 75...
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, and the growing number of bank failures — approximately 350 during the last 3 years — there has been an outcry from the public, politicians, regulators and law enforcement calling for criminal prosecution of executives from these failed banks. They cite the aggressive criminal prosecution of executives (approximately 1800 criminal cases) from the failed savings and loan crisis...
FCPA practitioners assume that businesses are familiar with the risks of foreign bribery violations and are focused on compliance programs and practices. That assumption may be just that — an assumption. Would it surprise you to learn that many businesses around the globe are aware of foreign bribery incidents, are aware that prosecutors are aggressively enforcing anti-bribery laws, and readily admit that their company does not have a specific procedure...
On 25 February 2011, the Republic of China adopted tan amendment to its criminal laws to criminalize the bribery of officials of foreign governments or international public organisations in order to gain a commercial benefit. How and to what extent the new law will be enforced is not yet clear. Foreign companies which have invested in, or operate joint ventures with, Chines enterprises should review the amendment,...
In its recent settlement with Johnson & Johnson, the Justice Department sent an important message to the compliance community by outlining “enhanced” compliance requirements. This was the first time that the Justice Department identified compliance program elements beyond “minimum” requirements. What is DOJ’s purpose in outlining these “enhanced” requirements? Should companies implement these elements as part of an overall compliance program? It depends. DOJ is not suggesting that these requirements are...
Nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a shipload of illogical humans. –Spock in ‘I, Mudd’ If we look into the compliance program crystal ball, what will the future show? A “shipload of illogical [compliance] humans” or something completely different? If we take a step back and look at the compliance landscape, we can draw a picture of what the future will look like. Right...
Nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a shipload of illogical humans. –Spock in ‘I, Mudd’ If we look into the compliance program crystal ball, what will the future show? A “shipload of illogical [compliance] humans” or something completely different? If we take a step back and look at the compliance landscape, we can draw a picture of what the future will look like. Right...
It is easy to forget that businesses need to focus on a number of significant risks. Anti-corruption is one of many threats to global companies. The tone-from-the-top message has to cut across all of these risk. The reason for this change is the financial crisis. In response, government activism and enforcement powers have been expanded in a dramatic way. More than ever, compliance must be...
On Friday, April 15, 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed a grand jury indictment against 11individuals, including the founders of the three largest online poker sites —PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker —charging them with bank fraud, money laundering, illegal gambling offenses, and violations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The U.S. Department of Justice...
When designing and implementing robust compliance plans, companies face the age-old questions: Should we designate a corporate compliance officer? Who should the CCO report to in the company? In the next five years, the position of CCO will take on a new and more dynamic role in every company. With the rise of enforcement, it is inevitable that the importance of the CCO will increase...
