Bribery occurs in the United States — what a surprise! Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index ranks the United States as 25 out of 179, a relatively low ranking for corruption. Some have argued (including me) that the US ranking may be inaccurate given current regulations surrounding campaign finance and other means by which influence peddling and corruption can occur with low detection risks. That is...
Little problems can become big ones. A failure to respond to a risk – whether it is a conflict of interest violation or a weakness in internal controls – can become even more significant depending on the size and scope of the problem. A recent criminal prosecution of two Rockwell Automation executives underscored the nature of this phenomena. Last month, federal prosecutors arrested and charged...
Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Manager at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a post providing additional color into U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s recent announcement on changes to DOJ policies. Alex can be reached at [email protected]. On October 28, 2021, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco—a veteran of government service in previous Administrations and a champion of corporate accountability—announced several significant changes to...
The Justice Department filed a complaint in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to block Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster. Penguin Random House is the largest book publisher in the world and Simon & Shuster is the fourth largest publisher. Penguin Random House is a subsidiary of Bertelsmann SE and is based in New York City. Penguin Random House’s...
As companies focus more on ESG, it is obvious that companies will achieve a significant number of benefits beyond that defined in the ESG acronym. A well-designed and tailored program will bring significant benefits to the overall company’s operations. There are a number of important issues that design and implementation of an ESG program entail. It is hard to fill in many of the important...
We have all read about the high-profile malicious cyber-attacks and ransomware demands and payments. The Colonial Pipeline case demonstrated how responsive law enforcement can be in tracking down perpetrators and recovering ransom payments. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) has a vested interest in this enforcement arena. On September 21, 2021, OFAC issued an updated ransomware advisory on the topic (“Updated Advisory”)....
We have heard it over and over, again and again – third-parties pose significant risks of bribery for all global businesses. Almost every FCPA enforcement action includes some form of third-party misconduct. The current picture from the Stanford FCPA Resource confirms the story. A cottage industry of automated platforms, data analytics, due diligence and monitoring strategies have grown around third-party bribery risk. Companies have designed...
Sorry to repeat myself (sorry, but inevitable in my maintaining this blog for 9 years), but the Justice Department, like other enforcement agencies, will tell everyone what they plan to do and then do it. Not on individual investigations, but in enforcement priorities, strategies and resources. Lisa Monaco, the Deputy Attorney General (No. 2 in DOJ), delivered an important speech at the National Institute of...
A supervising ESG Committee has to resolve several basic questions in order to build out its ESG program. What are the company’s ESG risks? How is the company’s ESG program tailored to its ESG risk profile? What kind of information are investors, shareholders and stakeholders demanding as part of a disclosure framework? How will the company collect, assess, and monitor relevant data, and the disclose...
The Justice Department announced the indictment of Mark Forkner, a former Chief Technical Pilot for Boeing for his role in the 737 MAX scandal. Specifically, Forkner is charged with deceiving the FAA’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (“FAA AEG”) relating to Boeing’s 737 MAX airplane and defrauding Boeings U.S.-based airline customers to earn millions of dollars for Boeing. Boeing’s 737 MAX scandal is tragic and disturbing. In January...
