With increasing focus on infrastructure projects and greater public demand for improvements, governments are preparing to ramp up construction projects. Part of the budgeting process has to acknowledge the cost of corruption. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that construction and corruption go hand-in-hand. Corruption occurs in construction projects because of the incendiary mix of money, government bureaucracy, and lack of...
I was honored to conduct a live, video webinar last week on third party due diligence, focusing on the importance of beneficial ownership. My co-panelists were Bill Hauserman and Ted Datta from Bureau van Dijk. You can watch the webinar and download the slides from the webinar (here). I have been impressed with BvD’s product offering – key tools in your third party screening process...
Webinar: CCOs and the Board of Directors: Establishing an Effective Relationship May 24, 2016 12 PM EST Register Here Chief Compliance Officers have to establish a positive and productive working relationship with the corporate board of directors. An effective reporting relationship is essential to ensuring an effective ethics and compliance program. CCOs have to attend to this relationship, learn how to use it effectively, and...
When a scandal hits the media like the Panama Papers leak of 11.5 million confidential legal records, we all know what to expect. Criminal investigations, regulatory responses, and of course, congressional hearings of some sort so that everyone gets a piece of the scandal pie. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (“ICIJ”) reported the leak of 11.5 million confidential legal records designed to expose shell...
Since 2010, the Justice Department and the SEC have been “investigating” a number of private equity and hedge funds for FCPA violations. The launch of the inquiries was a big deal with lots of fanfare and focus on private equity corruption risks. In time, nothing happened. Well, that is about to change. DOJ and the SEC are getting close to announcing a large settlement with...
Let’s start with a big “If.” I know that sounds like a real turn off but bear with me. Assuming that the Justice Department is ready to turn over a new approach to criminal enforcement and aggressively prosecute culpable individuals in white collar crime investigations, would it be a good idea to offer a pass, or leniency to the company if the company self-reports the...
Just to add to the cacophony of voices campaigning during this primary season, DOJ, SEC, FINRA, and CFTC officials launched their own campaign promoting recent initiatives to increase corporate self-reporting of potential violations. After months of announcements, which were preceded by internal wrangling and bureaucratic leaks, DOJ has put in place its new initiative – the Yates memorandum to focus on individual culpability and a...
Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, joins us again for a posting on DOJ’s recent FCPA guidance announcement. Lauren can be reached at [email protected]. Her bio is here. Lots of people are talking about the DOJ’s new self-disclosure pilot program, but it was only the last of three steps announced in the DOJ’s Fraud Section FCPA Enforcement Plan and Guidance. One...
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...
Hui Chen, the Department of Justice’s Compliance Counsel, recently stated that 2015 was the year of due diligence and third-party compliance. A recent survey conducted by Kroll and Ethisphere provided a status check on how the due diligence compliance effort is going. Many companies have heard the message about the importance of due diligence compliance and instituted due diligence systems, hopefully using automated programs. Companies...
