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...

Investor demand for companies to provide robust and transparent ESG information is growing quickly.  Investors understand that companies have to develop effective strategies to address ESG risks.  The impact on shareholder price is evident – stakeholders are demanding that companies devote time and attention to ESG issues.  Companies have to respond to this demand. Government regulators are quickly pushing the ESG movement. The European Commission...

ESG – the initials that are transforming corporate missions, purposes and structures, fueled by stakeholder and investor demand.  It is a significant moment in corporate and stakeholder interactions.  Companies recognize the responsibilities but even more importantly, the opportunities, to build a sustainable and financially profitable organization. But there are significant changes that have to occur along with the ESG objective.  I am dubious about the...

Matt Stankiewicz, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, joins us for a post on sanctions compliance in the cryptocurrency industry. Matt can be contacted at [email protected]. In early October, OFAC released a guidance brochure on sanctions compliance, specifically tailored for the cryptocurrency and virtual assets industry.  For seasoned compliance veterans, it ends up reading like a refresher course for sanctions compliance.  While the guidance was...

The Credit Suisse case highlights the significant impact that global corruption and fraud can have on developing economies.  Mozambique’s economy suffered serious harm from the scheme, which started to unravel when the IMF uncovered problems with the financing and accounting for the tuna fishing project. The Mozambican people have suffered real and significant harm directly as a result of this criminal scheme. Additionally, the Credit...

Credit Suisse Group AG (“Credit Suisse”), a global financial institution, and its London-based European subsidiary, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited (“CSSEL”) resolved a wide-ranging bribery and fraud scheme involving investments and financing arrangements for an $850 million loan for a tuna fishing project in Mozambique. To resolve the violations, Credit Suisse agreed to pay a total of $547 million in penalties, fines and disgorgement as...

The Biden Administration announced its commitment to the global battle against corruption as a new, national security issue. This policy is a significant transformation in the U.S. commitment to the battle against corruption. In this Episode, Scott Greytak from Transparency International USA joins us to discuss the current policy initiatives surrounding the global commitment to fight corruption.

My old adage – when it comes to enforcement initiatives, the government always tells you what they are going to do and then they do it.  It is always baffles me when targets of enforcement actions complain that they did not know the government was going to launch an investigation or enforce the law in a particular manner.  The Justice Department is fairly transparent in...

The Delaware Chancery Court is continuing its trend of permitting Caremark claims against corporate board members who fail to exercise proper oversight and monitoring of compliance programs.  The Delaware Court’s latest decision involving the Boeing board and its failure to conduct proper oversight of the 737 MAX safety scandal is yet another example.  At bottom, the Chancery Court is raising the stakes on board member...

Mark Forkner, a former Chief Technical Pilot, was indicted  on two counts of fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce and four counts of wire fraud.  If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud and 10 years in prison on each count of fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce. Boeing began to develop the...