Matt Stankiewicz, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, joins us with a comprehensive blog series that will breakdown the various legal issues facing the fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried.  He can be reached at [email protected]. The cryptocurrency world is in shock watching the events unfold around the stunning collapse of FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world.  The...

OFAC’s guidance is intended to ease the burden on an otherwise difficult compliance problem.  Companies have to act in good faith to avoid transacting business involving Russian crude oil that has been sold above the $60 per barrel price cap.  For some industry players, compliance is straightforward.  However, for a number of players who do not normally have access to specific pricing information, due diligence...

The Biden Administration recognizes that the Russian Price-Cap Policy imposes serious burdens on U.S. energy companies and industries that provide ancillary services to the energy sector.  It is even more complicated given the EU framework and another set of guidance related to the oil price cap.  To ameliorate this burden, OFAC has set out detailed guidance on regulatory “safe harbors” for organizations and individuals affected...

The G-7, the European Union and Australia officially announced a price cap on Russian oil, which includes service and shipping restrictions on oil originating from the Russian Federation and trading above $60 per barrel.  After months of negotiations among the nations, the countries finally reached an agreement on a cap that is designed to reduce revenue to Russia in response to the ongoing war in...

Contrary to the often-repeated narrative, the Justice Department is transparent about its enforcement plans and compliance expectations.  Since the issuance of the FCPA Guidance in 2012, DOJ has continued to provide guidance on a number of important issues.  It also telegraphs its compliance priorities by acknowledging assignment of resources and creation of specific task forces.  Of course, DOJ can provide more transparency on a range...

The ABB case, like most significant FCPA enforcement actions, sets important precedent and policy reminders. With time, and looking back, ABB gives companies with a prior criminal history a way forward to seek a fair resolution notwithstanding huge obstacles based on past performance.  If you are ABB, you dodged a significant bullet – the appointment of an independent compliance monitor, which DOJ has been regularly...

The details of bribery schemes are invaluable for learning how criminals think – bribery always requires some scheme to transfer money from the organization to fund bribery payments to a government official(s).  Compliance professionals like to comb through the wreckage and turn the inquiry into a self-assessment.  The logical questions follow: All of these inquiries are important to apply to analyze your own company’s weaknesses...