The Justice Department and various regulatory agencies continue to emphasize the importance of continuous improvement, testing and review as part of robust assessment procedures in an effective compliance program.  The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has specifically stated that a sanctions compliance program should include “a comprehensive, independent, and objective testing or audit function” so that a company can determine “how their program[]...

Jessica Sanderson, Partner at the Volkov Law Group, re-joins us for a posting on a recent OFAC enforcement action. Jessica can be reached at [email protected]. Some may dismiss OFAC’s recent announcement last week that it issued a Finding of Violation to MidFirst Bank for violations of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators sanctions regulations as insignificant because OFAC did not impose any civil monetary penalties,...

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has decided to join the enforcement club.  BIS’s recent announcement of new policies to administrative actions should not be surprising.  Matthew Axelrod, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, promised to ramp up enforcement during his confirmation hearings. The Biden Administration has promised an increase in regulatory enforcement, and there is no question that enforcement...

The D.C Circuit Court of Appeals sits in a unique position as the primary reviewing court for federal government agency actions.  As a result, the D.C. Circuit sits in a high-profile position and several judges have eventually ended up at the Supreme Court. Given the rising importance and enforcement of export sanctions and controls, the D.C. Circuit Court is addressing important issues on appeal relating...

Since its last enforcement action against Banco Popular in late May, OFAC has been quiet on the enforcement front.  Notwithstanding its silence, OFAC has been managing a robust and complex coordinated economic sanctions program against Russia.  On its face this effort is more than Herculean, given the need to coordinate with the EU, Allies and partners.  It has been truly unprecedented and OFAC’s performance has...

I have been — and continue to be– hyper-focused on the proper role and responsibilities for Chief Compliance Officers. Not that I see any cause for alarm, but it is easy to lose focus in the sea of so-called hot issues — ESG, Diversity, Climate Change, Threats to Democracy, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy, each of which is an important component and focus for organizations. All of these...

When it comes to the healthcare sector, the Justice Department and the HHS-Office of Inspector General have no shortage of investigations and targets for prosecution.  The more resources made available to DOJ and HHS-OIG, the more money made for the federal government from medical care fraud.  It is a very simple equation.  It is like shooting fish in a barrel. BioReference and OPKO Health, Inc....

As we enjoy the remainder of the summer and get ready to launch into a new fall season (no, not football) but a time for renewal and recommitment, this may be a good opportunity to examine and analyze your own compliance program.  DOJ’s framework provides a valuable set of questions and issues needed to conduct this analysis.  It is important to note the critical ability...

As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart eloquently opined in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964), on the legal definition of obscenity, “I know it when I see it.”  This same test applies to other issues as well — when it comes to an effective ethics and compliance program, and an effective CCO, “[We] know it when [we] see it.”  Or conversely (and perhaps confusingly), “[We] know it...

There are lots of sources for compliance guidance — prosecutors, regulators, compliance organizations, and many others have set forth important and valuable guidance for the design and implementation of an effective ethics and compliance program.  All of this guidance is helpful and has advanced the cause of corporate compliance.  After all, for decades now, the importance of corporate ethics and compliance has steadily grown.  It...