When it comes to FCPA enforcement and expectations, DOJ has moved the goalposts.  Some would argue that DOJ has been consistent all along.  The truth, like most issues, lies somewhere between the extremes.  With lots of fanfare, DOJ implemented a new Corporate Enforcement Program to udnerscore its intent to examine the criminal and civil enforcement history of corporate defendants when considering an appropriate penalty.  This...

Life is always filled with surprises.  Just when we thought 2023 was a “slow” FCPA enforcement year, DOJ and SEC announced a large enforcement action against SAP for approximately $220 million for FCPA violations in South Africa, and Indonesia.  The SEC’s enforcement action for $98 million includes SAP FCPA violations in Greater Africa and Azerbaijan. SAP is no stranger to U.S, enforcement agencies.  In 2021,...

The Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement record for 2024 was slow.  This  trend was unexpected, contrary to my own predictions and of various other prognosticators.  It is hard to explain why this slowdown occurred. DOJ’s record is hard to square against DOJ official speeches, statements and policy changes, which all were premised on an expectation of increased enforcement over prior years.  In its last FCPA enforcement...

As everyone knows, I tend to repeat myself — DOJ does as well.  Over the past year, DOJ has warned global companies — over and over — about the coming criminal enforcement storm against companies for sanctions and export control violations.  Deputy Attorney General Monaco coined the phrase — “the new FCPA,” to reiterate that companies would be prosecuted akin to FCPA enforcement, meaning that...

DOJ announced settlements with two U.K.-based reinsurance brokers, H.W. Wood Limited (“Wood”) and Tysers Insurance Brokers (“Tysers”) for their participation in a bribery scheme involving Seguros Sucre S.A. (“Sucre”) and Seguros Rocafuerte S.A. (“Rocafuerte”), two state-owned insurance companies in Ecuador.  Wood and Tysers each entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ and agreed to the filing of a criminal information in the Southern...

Albemarle Corporation (Albemarle), a specialty chemicals manufacturing company located in Charlotte, North Carolina, agreed to pay more than $218 million to settle FCPA investigations with DOJ and the SEC stemming from bribery payments in Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Albemarle entered into a three-year non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”) with DOJ and agreed to pay a penalty of approximately $98.2 million and an administrative forfeiture of approximately $98.5...

October 24, 2023 12 Noon EST Sign up HERE The Department of Justice warned global companies of a new, aggressive strategy for enforcement of trade sanctions and export controls. DOJ’s message has been reinforced by the Departments of Treasury (Office of Foreign Asset Control, or “OFAC”) as to sanctions, and the Department of Commerce (Bureau of Industry and Security, or “BIS”), as to export controls....

Call me a skeptic.  Call me cynical. I understand that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) provides valuable standardization services and guidance.  The ISO is comprised of 169 member countries. The ISO recently issued a new standard governing internal investigations.  From my vantage point, I was a critic of ISO 37001, anti-corruption compliance,  because of its over-generalization and failure to provide more specific guidance on...

Sam Finkelstein, an associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a posting on DOJ’s initiative to increase corporate prosecution of sanctions, export controls and national security issues. Sam can be reached at [email protected]. The marriage of corporate enforcement and national security has been a defining feature of the DOJ under the Biden Administration. The Justice Department’s commitment to prosecuting corporate crimes that implicate...

In another significant step notifying global businesses of the new realities – companies are about to face aggressive coordinated prosecutions for sanctions and export control violations.  The last piece in launching this new effort was the announcement of a joint voluntary disclosure program to ensure alignment among the agencies for civil and criminal enforcement of such violations. The Joint Compliance Note (“JCN”) urges companies to...