In late July 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted new rules requiring public companies to disclose cybersecurity incidents and cybersecurity governance policies and practice.  The SEC largely adopted its original proposal issued in March 2022, with some modifications applicable to cybersecurity disclosure requirements.  The SEC voted to adopt the new rules in a 3-2 vote. The new disclosure requirements however are effective no...

Mary Shirley, a leading voice in the legal and compliance field, has just released her new book — Living Your Best Compliance Life: 65 Hacks & Cheat Codes to Level Up Your Ethics & Compliance Program. Order Mary’s New Book Here. Mary is a well-known advocate, speaker and compliance professional. She regularly speaks at Compliance events. She is mentor to the Compliance Profession. Whether you’re...

The Justice Department’s Opinion Release procedure has provided important guidance over the years.  The library of Opinion Release letters is well-organized and accessible to the legal and compliance community. In its most recent Opinion Release, 23-1, DOJ affirms its prior determinations and sets forth some best practices governing payment for foreign official travel and related expenses. The focus of the Opinion Release is the FCPA’s...

The Antitrust Division has been active – like any aggressive prosecution strategy, however, its results have been mixed.  Its record in criminal cases has taken serious hits – a stunning set of losses in the chicken price-fixing cases and defeats in criminal labor market cases. DOJ has been quietly and steadily building cases in the generic pharmaceutical industry.  DOJ’s most significant criminal case charged both...

The SEC is having a good year in prosecuting FCPA cases.  The SEC’s recent settlement with 3M Corp. for $6.5 million is its seventh corporate resolution for the year.  DOJ, which has been relatively quiet so far this year, recently resolved the Corficocolombiana case, its first for the year. 3M’s conduct centered on payments for Chinese healthcare officials employed by state-owned enterprises to attend overseas...

Corporate boards face a panoply of risks – and the nature of these risks are quickly evolving.  Cybersecurity has quickly risen to the top of the list of corporate risks.  Add to that the new SEC regulations on cybersecurity disclosures, and board members face serious and escalating risks surrounding ransomware attacks, data breaches and other technical issues. The challenge – board members are not cyber...

Construction Specialties, Inc. (“CSI”), a U.S. company specializing in the sale of building materials, agreed to pay $660,594 to settle its liability for three violations of OFAC’s sanctions on Iran. CSI’s illegal conduct occurred through its United Arab Emirates (UAE) subsidiary, Construction Specialties Middle East (“CSME”), which imported building materials from the United States to the UAE and then knowingly reexported them to Iran. In...

We are pleased to announce the newest addition to The Volkov Law Group — Daniela Melendez. Daniela joins us as an Associate. Daniela comes to Volkov Law after graduating from the LLM program at Duke University School of Law. Daniela is a Colombian lawyer admitted to practice in Colombia. Prior to joining Volkov Law Group, her work focused on internal investigations, corporate compliance and trade...

Matt Stankiewicz, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins the podcast to review the recent Ripple decision by District Judge Torres at the Southern District of New York and the recent indictment of Celsius Networks’ CEO. On July 13, 2022, Judge Analisa Torres issued her long awaited ruling on the summary judgment motions in the SEC’s case against Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple”).  The 34-page order provided a...