Tagged: due diligence

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Deputy AG Lisa Monaco Suggests Major Changes to the DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Efforts

Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Manager at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a post providing additional color into U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s recent announcement on changes to DOJ policies. Alex can be reached at [email protected]. On October 28, 2021, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco—a veteran of government service in previous Administrations and a champion of corporate accountability—announced several significant changes to...

Credit Suisse’s Global Bribery and Fraud Scheme (Part II of II)

The Credit Suisse case highlights the significant impact that global corruption and fraud can have on developing economies.  Mozambique’s economy suffered serious harm from the scheme, which started to unravel when the IMF uncovered problems with the financing and accounting for the tuna fishing project. The Mozambican people have suffered real and significant harm directly as a result of this criminal scheme. Additionally, the Credit...

Lessons Learned from the Goldman Sachs FCPA Enforcement Settlement (Part III of III)

Goldman Sachs has a new leadership role – unfortunately, it is for corruption.  It would be a serious mistake to characterize or describe the Goldman corruption scheme as the result of a few, bad actors.  Instead, Goldman suffered this scandal because of a culture and a weak set of controls crafted to promote business with little regard for compliance. The lessons learned from this massive...

Goldman Sachs’ Lucrative and Wide-Ranging Corrupt Scheme (Part II of III)

Goldman Sachs now sits atop all charts with the largest US FCPA bribery penalty, totaling approximately $2.9 billion.  The second largest is Ericsson’s 2019 FCPA settlement for $1 billion.  There is a reason that Goldman “earned” this distinction.  The bribery scheme and controls and compliance failures are repugnant and pervasive.  Goldman’s corruption scheme was built on stealing funds from the 1MDB account that was intended...

Welcome to New Sponsor: Blue Umbrella

We are proud to announce the addition of a new sponsor — Blue Umbrella, a leading provider of due diligence research and innovative third-party compliance technologies.  Combining global research excellence with disruptive RegTech SaaS solutions, Blue Umbrella serves multinational corporations working in technology, manufacturing, life sciences, defense/aerospace, agriculture, energy, finance, and consumer goods as well as top-tier investment banks. With a global presence and local...

Steele Webinar: Top 6 Due Diligence Best Practices Third-Party Risk Management

Steele Webinar: Top 6 Due Diligence Best Practices Third-Party Risk Management April 16, 2020, 11 AM EST Sign Up HERE Faced with complex, global third-party networks, it’s more critical than ever for companies to have an effective strategy for evaluating and monitoring third-party risk. Without continuous monitoring and a strong anti-bribery anti-corruption (ABAC) program, companies can find themselves the target of multiple enforcement actions for...

Five Lessons for Third-Party Distributor Risk Management from Microsoft FCPA Settlement (Part III of III)

The Microsoft FCPA settlement, while not significant in the total penalty of approximately $25 million, provides some important instructions concerning distributor and re-seller risks and mitigation strategies.  Here are five important lessons learned:  Discount Controls and Customer/End User Pricing: Microsoft agreed to provide significant discounts based on false justifications.  Microsoft failed to confirm the justification for the discounts that permitted the bad actors to create...

NAVEX Global Releases 2018 Third-Party Risk Benchmark Report

NAVEX Global has issued its Third-PartyBenchmark Report.  (HERE). The NAVEX Global Report contains important insights and data concerning ethics and compliance programs and third-party risk management strategies.  I was pleased to assist NAVEX Global in preparing the 2018 Benchmark Report. Knowing how to appropriately define, screen and monitor your third parties is essential to minimizing risk. New industry benchmarks, along with the expert guidance provided in...

Kinross Gold Mining FCPA Settlement: SEC Continues Internal Controls Focus

The SEC continues to exercise its powerful enforcement tool – internal controls violations – in FCPA enforcement actions against public companies.  Kinross Gold Corporation is the latest company to enter into an FCPA settlement. Kinross agreed to pay $950,000 for inadequate internal controls and books and records violations centered on the activities of two mining companies Kinross acquired.  The SEC cited no evidence of any...

Episode 28 — Due Diligence and Third Party Risk Management (Part I of III)

Companies continue to face significant risks from their third parties.  In response, companies are implementing sophisticated due diligence and third party risk management systems.  FCPA enforcement risks are only one of several risks created by a company’s third parties.  Companies have to screen and review their third parties for corruption, sanctions, money laundering, antitrust, human trafficking, child labor and reputational risks. In this three-part series,...