Tagged: Corruption

15 Nov, 2015

Resetting FCPA Prosecution Policies

Recent press reports suggest that the Justice Department is reconsidering its FCPA criminal prosecution policies, particularly with respect to corporate defendants. As reported, DOJ is considering defining and increasing corporate benefits from voluntary disclosures and cooperation. This re-evaluation appears to have been triggered by changes in the Criminal Division leadership. DOJ’s recent Yates memorandum imposed new and significant obligations on companies seeking credit for cooperation...

General

1 Nov, 2015

Reinvigorating Corporate Board Governance to Embed a Culture of Ethics and Compliance

“It is Time” – Rafiki, The Lion King Corporate scandals continue to rack up – I am not just blowing smoke on this fact. Corporate boards are under greater scrutiny but the hardest place to bring reform is the corporate boardroom. Old institutions do not change quickly and there is an inherent resistance to change when it comes to a corporate boardroom. The old dynamic...

General

19 Oct, 2015

Dissecting a Bribery Violation: Two Important Questions to Answer

In the wreckage of a corporate FCPA enforcement action, a company has to answer two important questions. First, how did the conduct occur without senior executives and the Board learning or suspecting that such conduct was occurring or could occur? Second, how did the wrongdoers obtain access to the money needed to fund the bribery scheme? I know these two questions are fairly obvious, but...

General

15 Oct, 2015

Yates and Outsourcing Government Investigations

The Justice Department’s recent Yates memorandum on individual accountability is a significant event. Sure, you can always find members of the FCPA Paparazzi who will discount the memo, or relegate it to a mere “political” statement. That view is unfortunate and ignores the real implications of the Yates memo. Such a viewpoint also shows how little members of the FCPA Paparazzi understand the true inner...

General

11 Oct, 2015

Four Clear Messages from Bristol-Myers Squibb FCPA Enforcement Action

The SEC’s FCPA enforcement action for $14.6 million against Bristol-Myers Squibb (“BMS”) in China provides a textbook example of how things can go wrong in China. For the compliance practitioner (as well as CEO and senior executives) in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, the BMS enforcement action should be read and digested as a quick checklist of important principles. The facts underlying the BMS...

General

4 Oct, 2015

SEC’s Hitachi Enforcement Action and Important Compliance Reminders

The SEC continues to plug away at aggressive FCPA enforcement. This year, at least so far, the SEC has had a very successful year. The Hitachi case is a very interesting enforcement action for several major reasons. From a general perspective, the SEC’s decision to file the case in US District Court for the District of Columbia represents an important about face – instead of...

General

13 Sep, 2015

The True Impact of DOJ’s Individual Prosecution Memo

The Justice Department can surprise you – the release of the Yates Memo (here), as it is commonly referred to since it takes on the name of the Deputy Attorney General (e.g. McNulty Memo), is another strange example of DOJ responding to political winds. If anything, DOJ’s action appears a little bit late. The controversy surrounding DOJ’s failure to prosecute an appropriate number of individual...

General

5 Aug, 2015

DOJ’s Disdain for “Paper” Compliance Programs

As we come to the close of the Obama Administration, the Justice Department will certainly be able to point to its record of aggressive white-collar enforcement in a variety of areas. One glaring claim omission from that list will be prosecution of senior executives tied to financial institutions responsible for the financial demise in the late 2000s. With that one big exception, across the board...

General

3 Aug, 2015

Berger FCPA Settlement: Back to the Future

The recent Louis Berger International FCPA settlement highlighted once again the serious consequences from systemic bribery violations, the ease with which bribery schemes can be carried out, and the risks facing all global companies, especially those involved in high-risk industries like construction projects. Berger agreed to pay $17 million to settle the case and agreed to a three-year corporate monitor. Interestingly, at the same time...

Events

20 Jul, 2015

LexisNexis CLE-Eligible Webinar: A Holistic Approach to Due Diligence and Third-Party Risk Management

Date: August 6, 2015 Time: 2 pm – 335 EST Sign Up Here Many companies have implemented robust due diligence vetting, monitoring and auditing strategies for managing third-party risk. No due diligence system is foolproof in identifying high-risk business partners or predicting which partners will engage in bribery. Join Michael Volkov and Richard Bistrong as they discuss how due diligence systems and monitoring and...