The Justice Department and the SEC have been busy over the last 2 weeks in the FCPA arena. For those who have raised doubts about DOJ and the SEC’s continuing commitment to FCPA enforcement, you should forever hold your peace. The SEC announced a $6 million settlement with Anheuser-Busch InBev (“AB InBev”) for FCPA violations that occurred in India, along with a precedent setting (in...

Companies interact with a large number of entities in the outside world – customers, third party intermediaries and vendors and suppliers to name the most significant ones. These relationships are the lifeblood of a company. In today’s world, companies have to know with whom they are dealing – not just the name of the company, not just the officers of the company, but the natural...

Beneficial ownership remains a compliance hot topic. While understanding beneficial ownership of an entity – a corporate or fund – is a key element in many compliance activities, it’s a daunting challenge. Countries vary in the amount of financial data private companies are required to disclose, and disclosure of ownership is not yet mandatory. Join us for a free webinar on October 12 (Register Here) during...

In a rare enforcement action, the SEC settled an FCPA enforcement action for $766,000 for a charitable donation of $154,000 to improperly influence a high-ranking Chiese Communist party official to prevent a provincial agency investigation of Nu-Skin’s Chinese subsidiary. Nu-Skin China was being investigated in China for violating provincial direct sale restrictions. The Chinese Administration of Industry and Commerce investigated the matter and proposed to...

Cristina Muehl’s second part of her series addresses third-party risk management relating to contract termination.  Cristina is a Senior Corporate Auditor at Delphi Corporation.  Her Linked In profile is here.  She can be reached at [email protected]. This second part of the series will take a look at the last phase in the lifecycle of third-party business relationship and that is contract termination. This is a...

I am pleased to welcome Cristina Muehl as a guest contributor.  Cristina has provided a two-part series on third-party risk management relating to contract extensions and contract termination.  Cristina is a Senior Corporate Auditor at Delphi Corporation.  Her Linked In profile is here.  She can be reached at [email protected]. Risk Management is a constant theme for top management as it might make the difference between...

I find myself quibbling with compliance terms – hyper focus on small issues is not a positive trait. I often urge clients and colleagues to focus on issue of more significance and leave the smaller ones for another day. Hence, my recent criticism over “due diligence” policies and procedures for third party intermediaries. A more appropriate title is “risk management.” A due diligence inquiry of...

Sometimes it takes a scandal to advance a policy or law enforcement cause. The Panama Papers scandal has given new life to financial regulators around the world who seek to impose customer due diligence requirements on banks and other key players in the financial industry. Knowing Your Customer is not only a basic requirement but is fast becoming a potential enforcement nightmare. In this era,...

Last week, the SEC added another pharmaceutical company to its list of FCPA violators when AstraZeneca agreed to a $5.5 million settlement with the SEC. AZ is now the 25th drug or medical device company to pay an FCPA penalty for violating the FCPA. AZ’s violations were not limited to China as a number of recent FCPA enforcement actions against drug/medical device companies, but included...