The SEC announced another FCPA settlement in 2022. FCPA enforcement, in general, is picking up. Tenaris, a global supplier of steel pipes and related services for the energy industry agreed to pay the SEC $78 million to resolve FCPA violations that occurred in Brazil. The US Department of Justice closed its investigation without bringing charges. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the SEC settlement.
The Department of Justice has announced its plan to aggressively enforce the new Russia Sanctions Program. In response to the dire humanitarian situation in the Ukraine, DOJ took two significant actions – creation of the KleptoCapture Task Force and a commitment to enforcement of the Russia sanctions and export control. DOJ’s second statement of intent is significant. DOJ’s record of criminal enforcement of prior sanctions...
Webinar: Antitrust Criminal Enforcement in Labor Markets January 26, 2022, 12 Noon EST Sign Up HERE The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division has taken an aggressive stance in criminal enforcement in labor markets. To this end, the Antitrust Division has brought several significant criminal cases against aerospace executives, major healthcare and pharmaceutical companies and executives. DOJ has promised more criminal cases. Global companies face significant risks, and...
The new United States Strategy on Countering Corruption includes several important statements of interest to legal and compliance professionals. Under the third of the five pillars, Holding Corrupt Actors Accountable, the U.S. Government specifically calls out the importance of private sector commitment to anti-corruption compliance programs “to improve the international business climate by encouraging the adoption and enforcement of anti-corruption compliance programs by U.S. and...
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...
In a surprising (but fully warranted) twist, the Justice Department returned an indictment against a former employee of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (“Ericsson”), a global telecommunications company, for his role in paying approximately $2.1 million in bribes to high-level government officials in the Republic of Djibouti. Afework “Affe” Bereket, 53, a dual citizen of Ethiopia and Sweden, was charged in a two-count indictment – Count 1...
In a precedent-setting agreement, the Justice Department, OFAC and the Bureau of Industry Security announced a settlement with SAP SE for more than $8 million for numerous violations of the Iran Sanctions program. While the Justice Department’s National Security Division (“NSD”) has settled prior export control and sanctions cases against corporations for violations of the North Korea Sanctions program, the SAP case is the first...
The Biden Administration has a lot on its plate – that is obvious. Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and restoring economic growth is one of the most difficult challenges ever facing our country. Across the government, a new administration poses significant changes in priorities. The Justice Department will be tough on corporate crime and compliance. With the exception of a failure to prosecute individuals responsible for...
President Biden has nominated Merrick Garland and Lisa Monaco to head the U.S Department of Justice. In addition, the Biden Administration has nominated a number of strong enforcement candidates to head up various regulatory agencies. The implications of this new team across the government will be significant on various industry sectors. Tom Fox joins Mike Volkov to discuss the new Justice Department leadership and the...
The Volkov Law Group has scheduled a free webinar on DOJ’s New Compliance Program Guidance for May 9, 2019, at 12 noon EST. Sign up HERE. In a major development in ethics and compliance program expectations, the Justice Department has issued a new and important revised guidance on the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (HERE). The new Evaluation Guidance supersedes the prior document issued in...
