Recently, the SEC announced a settlement with Kraft Foods for $62 million and with two Kraft executives for financial reporting misstatements.  Along with the corporate settlement with Kraft, the SEC announced proposed settlements with Kraft’s former COO Eduardo Pelleissone and its former Procurement Officer Klaus Hoffman for their roles in the reporting fraud. During the period of 2015 to 2018, Kraft committed various accounting misconduct,...

Jessica Sanderson, Partner at the Volkov Law Group, will be heading the Master Session at AMPEC’s Congreso Anual Compliance e Innovación. Please tune in to her discussion on the current status of the FCPA and expected trends in the Biden Administration.

The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) continues to bring sanctions enforcement actions.  At the same time, OFAC is reiterating the importance of sanctions compliance program.  Building on its May 2019 Framework for Sanctions Compliance Program, OFAC is sticking to its word — setting forth sanctions compliance program requirements and holding companies accountable for sanctions program violations. In this Episode, Michael Volkov...

The First Bank of Romania and JC Flowers agreed to pay OFAC $862,318 to settle violations of Iran and Syria Sanctions Programs.  First Bank is owned by its U.S. parent, JC Flowers & Company. In 2018, JC Flowers acquired a majority stake in First Bank, subjecting Frist Bank to OFAC sanctions. In early 2019, First Bank’s regulator, the National Bank of Romania flagged a U.S....

The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada and Switzerland have adopted or expanded sanctions against Belarus, and the Alexander Lukashenko regime.  President Biden issued a new executive order that expanded U.S. sanctions authority against Belarus, authorizing the designation of government officials, oligarchs and various companies linked to the Lukashenko regime.  The expanded sanctions authority now encompasses various sectors, including defense, energy, security,...

The UK-based Bank of China agreed to pay $2.3 million to settle violations of OFAC’s Sudan Sanctions Program.  OFAC repealed the Sudan sanctions in October 2017 but is continuing to investigate violations of the Sudan Sanctions Program that occurred prior to October 2017. The enforcement action was the result of an internal investigation and voluntary disclosure triggered by a bank action blocking a customer transaction. ...

Well, we are still waiting for the “big” FCPA enforcement actions.  Do not get me wrong – they are coming.  My suspicion is that they are being held up and calculated with a splash to announce the results of the White House’s Global Anti-Corruption Memorandum focusing on the anti-corruption effort as a national security priority.  The landscape is ready for a splash and DOJ is...

Chief compliance officers recognize the importance of conducting robust audits of their compliance programs. The audit process requires a delicate balance between qualitative and quantitative measures. As corporate compliance programs build data analytics and technological capabilities, CCOs have to tailor the audit program to incorporate data as an effective measure of a compliance program. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews strategies for conducting compliance program...

Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Manager at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a posting on the Biden Administration’s Memorandum designating the fight against corruption as a national security interest. Alex can be reached at [email protected]. Scores of articles and volumes of commentary have been issued since President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. issued a presidential memorandum (hereinafter, “Memorandum”) making global anticorruption efforts an urgent national security...

The Justice Department suffered a terrible blow to its reputation during the financial crash in 2008 to 2009 for failing to criminally prosecute those individuals responsible for the financial misconduct.  It was one of the most devastating failures in DOJ history and stands as a stain against DOJ’s accomplishments in prosecuting white collar crime.  The failure to prosecute stemmed from both a lack of will...