Featured Articles:

UniControl Agrees to Pay $216,464 to Settle Case for Violations of OFAC’s Iran Sanctions Program

UniControl, Inc., a Cleveland, Ohio manufacturer of process controls, airflow pressure switches, boiler controls and other instruments, agreed to pay OFAC $216,464 to settle its liabilities for violation of the Iran Sanctions Program.  UniControl exported 19 shipments of its goods to two European countries with reason to know that the goods were intended for delivery to Iran end users.  In addition, UniControl exported two shipments...

CCOs and Expertise in Risk Management

Chief compliance officers (CCOs) are talented professionals.  As Donna Boehme always emphasizes, CCOs are subject matter experts (SMEs) in compliance risks, controls and mitigation.  CCOs focus on legal and compliance risks as reflected in an organization’s Code of Conduct, ethical culture and legal requirements.  In recognition of their unique role in every organization, CCOs have line of sight across the organization, independence and authority to...

CFTC Opens Inquiry into Binance, One of the World’s Largest Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Matt Stankiewicz, Managing Counsel at The Volkov Law Group, joins us for a post looking into the CFTC’s recent inquiry into Binance. Matt can be contacted at [email protected]. On Friday March 12, Bloomberg News reported that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has opened an inquiry into Binance Holdings Ltd. (“Binance”) to investigate allegations that the exchange allowed US citizens to trade in cryptocurrency derivatives,...

The New York Attorney General’s Office Reaches Settlement with Bitfinex and Tether

Matt Stankiewicz, Managing Counsel at The Volkov Law Group, joins us for updates on the NYAG’s case against Bitfinex and Tether. Matt can be contacted at [email protected]. In late February, the New York Attorney General’s office (“NYAG”) settled with Bitfinex and Tether stemming from charges relating to financial mismanagement.  The NYAG alleged that Bitfinex and Tether attempted to cover up the loss of approximately $850...

Webcast: The Future of Compliance and Policy Management

I had the pleasure of participating in a recent webcast sponsored by ClauseMatch, an innovative automated policy management and compliance platform. The panel included: Evgeny Likhoded, CEO and Founder of ClauseMatch Doreen Ghusar, Senior Director of regulatory Compliance at Roostify Rachel Woolley, Global Director of Financial Crime at Fenergo Our discussion focused on compliance trends, technology and evolution of the compliance profession. You can watch...

Episode 185 – Anti-Boycott Compliance: Interview of Alex Cotoia from the Volkov Law Group

Mike Volkov interviews Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Manager and Compliance Consultant at the Volkov Law Group, concerning trade compliance and anti-boycott issues. Alex specializes in corporate risk assessments, evaluation of general compliance programs, and the remediation of compliance deficiencies. He also specializes in trade (export) compliance and is familiar with a broad range of issues arising under both the Arms Export Control Act and its implementing...

Webinar: Leverage Due Diligence to Improve Enterprise-Wide Risk Management

Tuesday, March 16, 2021 1 PM EST/10 AM PST Sign Up Here When it comes to risk, you don’t know what you don’t know. And, in some cases, you don’t know what you do know. The latter can describe the current state of third-party risk management. This session will explain how to create a forward thinking risk management program that identifies and incorporates all the risk information...

Biden Administration Executive Order Mandates 100-Day Review of U.S. Supply Chains

President Biden signed an Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains, E.O. 14017, which initiates a 10-day period to review the strength of United States supply chains for four specific sectors.  The purpose of the Executive Order is to address weaknesses in, and shortages of, critical supplies in order to prevent future crises from dependency on adverse foreign suppliers.  As part of the review, the Biden...

The Coming AML Enforcement Storm

Blog after blog, commentator after commentator, and everyone else who has an opinion has been repeating the same message – the Biden Administration is going to increase enforcement risks.  While these general opinions are correct, a more specific and focused analysis is needed. It is one thing to cite a strong enforcement bent but it is another to watch the key issue – resources.  I...

The SolarWinds Cyber-Attack – The Devastation and Wreckage

The SolarWinds cyber-attack was devastating in scope and impact. If any lesson can be learned from this event, the SolarWinds case presents all the pitfalls, enforcement and reputational damage, rolled into one tragic series of events. In a recent 10-K disclosure, SolarWinds announced that it is the subject of ongoing investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and various state...