The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission have dedicated more time and energy to understanding a company’s internal controls and enforcing basic requirements that companies maintain effective internal controls. For prosecutors, companies often fall short when it comes to following their internal controls. If you follow my blog, you know that I have often predicted that DOJ will eventually prosecute criminally an individual...

In the technology age in which we live, CCOs often come face to face with a new phenomenon – too much information or data. TMI is not something to laugh at nor ignore. CCOs often face situations where they need to understand what is occurring through a monitoring or audit function. In those cases, CCOs have to decide whether it is worth the cost in...

The importance of DOJ’s hiring of Hui Chen as Compliance Counsel was recently confirmed by DOJ’s release of new compliance remediation standards for FCPA compliance programs. DOJ has, once again, raised the bar on FCPA compliance programs. Compliance practitioners have a real and significant voice on behalf of the compliance function inside the Justice Department. In adopting a new pilot program for FCPA enforcement and...

Happy April Fool’s Day! Could you ever imagine coming to work one day and realizing that you have “finished” your ethics and compliance program? There is nothing left to do. You can go home. Ohhhh, if only it was so. We all know the truth – a compliance program is never finished, never completed and there is always something to do. This gets us back...

The FCPA can create a very one-sided view of corruption. The bribe payer is punished and most times the recipient is not. The Justice Department has used creative approaches to ensnare recipients as in the Direct Partners enforcement action, but for the most part the recipients are not punished nor even publicly identified. Bribery demands can occur in a variety of contexts; sometimes they are...

I have to confess – I love the show Shark Tank. Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary, is my favorite Shark. Mr. Wonderful often reminds the contestants and other Sharks that the central issue in considering business proposals is – How do I make M-O-N-E-Y? The same focus on money has to be at the core of any anti-corruption compliance program. In examining a company’s risk profile,...

Putting aside the politics surrounding the Iran Nuclear Deal, the exchange of prisoners and other hot button political issues surrounding Implementation Day and the change in US-Iran relations, the new Iran sanctions create a new set of challenges for trade compliance officers. Talk about a headache — all you have to do is look at the new guidance, Frequently Asked Questions, and related documentation (Here)....