Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future -John F. Kennedy The measure of intelligence is the ability to change -Albert Einstein We are pleased to announce the release of a new, rebranded and refreshed podcast — Corruption, Crime & Compliance. Under the old banner, we produced 249 episodes. Listen for...
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its final rules implementing the beneficial ownership reporting requirements pursuant to the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). The rule requires most companies, limited liability and other entities that are registered to do business in the United States to report to FinCEN information about their beneficial owners. The long-awaited rules are intended to stop criminal actors, including...
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has demonstrated its ability to multi-task — designing, implementing and enforcing a comprehensive sanctions regime against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, and maintaining its “regular” enforcement program. In a recent two-fisted settlement, OFAC reached two separate settlements with Credit Agricole companies. First, OFAC reached a settlement with Credit Indosuez Switzerland S.A. (“CAIS”), an indirect subsidiary of Swiss-based...
In a significant action, the Justice Department brought criminal charges against the notorious Russian Oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, for sanctions evasion and obstruction of justice. DOJ also charged three associates, Natalya Bardakova, a Russian citizen, Olga Shriki, a New Jersey resident and United States citizen, and Ekaterina Voronina, Deripaska’s girlfriend. Shriki is also charged with obstruction of justice for deleting various electronic records after she received...
Oracle’s SEC settlement for $23 million underscores the power of the FCPA provisions mandating effective internal controls and accurate books and records. As everyone knows, these provisions can be applied to a wide-range of conduct beyond foreign bribery. The SEC recognizes the power of these provisions and have used them in a variety of settings. Oracle has now fallen under the enforcement sword twice —...
Oracle Corporation settled its second FCPA case in ten years. Oracle agreed to pay $23 million to resolve allegations that its subsidiaries in Turkey, India and the United Arab Emirates maintained slush funds to bribe foreign officials. Ten years ago in 2012, Oracle paid the SEC $2 million creating millions of dollars in off-the-books accounts at its India subsidiary. Oracle agreed to pay $8 million...
The Biden Administration promised a new, aggressive approach to corporate crime. Well, the Justice Department just delivered a new, comprehensive policy that raises a number of issues, some of which are likely to be controversial. The new policy incorporates reforms announced last October that largely centered on prior corporate criminal and civil records; appointment of independent compliance monitors and expanding review of responsible persons in an internal...
The Justice Department is putting every business on notice — aggressive white collar criminal enforcement is here to stay. In a one-two punch, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a revised Corporate Enforcement Policy, and Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite followed up with a speech outlining the steps the Criminal Division intends to take to implement the new Corporate Enforcement Policy, including important...
The Lisa Monaco Memo is a new and important restatement of the Justice Department’s approach to corporate crime. It is a worthy read and it sets out a number of new requirements and procedures for DOJ prosecutors investigating corporate crime. In this posting, we return to review a few remaining important issues. Evaluating a Corporation’s History of Misconduct — DOJ’s original announcement in October 2021...
The Monaco Memo is a watershed moment as part of DOJ’s evolution and advocacy for effective ethics and compliance programs. We have seen prior moments of significant action — DOJ’s adoption of the FCPA Guidance, DOJ’s issuance of its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, and now the Monaco Memo which takes compliance into a new world with new opportunities and challenges. The Monaco Memo starts...
