The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district judge’s post-conviction dismissal of FCPA counts against Lawrence Hoskins, a former Alston executive, for his involvement in bribery scheme to secure a $118 million energy contract in Indonesia. The Hoskins FCPA case has had a long and tortious path through the court system, and the Second Circuit’s decision, which was decided by a 2 to 1...
A basic truism — you do not want to become the subject of a Justice Department investigation. The wheels of justice — prosecutors and law enforcement — can cause real harm to organizations and individuals that violate the law. DOJ is aligning resources to investigate and prosecute cryptocurrency criminal activity. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. The Justice Department announced with much...
In a bipartisan success story, the House recently passed The Enablers Act, which is a far-reaching reform bill aimed at reducing AML and corrupt financial activity in the United States. Scott Greytak, Advocacy Director at Transparency International USA, and Erica Hanichak, Director of Government Affairs at the FACT Coalition, join Michael Volkov for a discussion of this legislative accomplishment and the implications for the battle...
Compliance professionals are used to internal struggles for influence and resources. Chief compliance officers have devoted years and years to justifying the need to elevate and empower the compliance function. For years, compliance professionals were relegated to back-room positions where they were cabined by structural and political restrictions. One of the early struggles was between the chief legal officer and the CCO. Eventually, CCOs were...
It is hard to write yet another posting about Wells Fargo’s misconduct. Wells Fargo’s troubles continue unabated. I am not exaggerating — I promise. Every few months, we hear about another problem, another enforcement action, another uncovering of misconduct. I do not intend to attempt to even recount all of Wells Fargo’s horrible history. We all know it, and like a rotten fish, we all...
I have a pet peeve in the compliance world. It may be symbolic; it may be petty at the same time; and it may just be a function of my old(er) age. I apologize in advance for this posting, i.e. this rant. Call it my moment on the front lawn yelling at passing cars in the neighborhood. My moment of frustration. Let’s start with two...
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division continues to push its aggressive civil and criminal agenda. While the Division has lost several high-profile criminal cases in the chicken processing industry and the labor market, the Antitrust Division just recently started civil trials seeking to block two proposed mergers or acquisitions. The first case involves United Health Group’s proposed acquisition of Change Healthcare, a provider of health insurance...
LRN has released a new and informative report on Assessing Corporate Culture. LRN’s report provides invaluable guidance and practical steps for corporate boards to lead in the management, oversight and monitoring of corporate culture. A link to the report is below, along with an earlier LRN report on Benchmarking Ethical Culture. In this Episode, Michael Volkov interviews Ty Francis, Chief Advisory Officer at LRN, concerning...
Continuous improvement of a compliance program requires robust auditing and testing. The Justice Department and regulatory agencies have articulated a number of key issues and principles to assist CCOs and Internal Auditors in this area. It is likely to become an area for DOJ and regulatory agency focus — what steps does the company take to review its compliance program to ensure that it is...
Chief compliance officers are visionaries. They define a vision with multiple objectives and then they execute on that vision. At all times, CCOs have to maintain that vision and adjust as circumstances change. By definition, CCOs who have a line-of-sight across the organization must define their role and objectives through this holistic vision. Frankly, in the absence of such a vision, CCOs will lose their...
