The dust is settling and for all the drama surrounding the Trump Administration’s refocus on FCPA enforcement, the picture is becoming a little bit clearer. When cooler heads prevail, it is much easier to pick through the relevant issues and prioritize the issues and analysis. First, we need to put this in perspective. From a much larger viewpoint, the FCPA pause has to be considered...
As we continue through the maze of Executive Orders and new Guidance, which is expected in 180 days, the questions surrounding FCPA enforcement are swirling. In some respects, we have had a preview. It is hard to know what will happen beyond some basic points. Let’s start with last week’s memo issued by Attorney General Bondi, which was entitled — Total Elimination of Cartels and...
In an unprecedented action, the Trump Administration pushed the button and ended FCPA enforcement, at least for 180 days, until new guidance is issued by the Department of Justice. The White House’s announcement seemed to take everyone by “surprise” but in the end was “expected” in light of recent announcements coming from Attorney General Bondi. The President’s Executive Order In an Executive Order that appeared...
In 2017, when President Trump first took office, big changes were expected in FCPA enforcement. Much of this reflected President Trump’s expressed misgivings on the substance of the FCPA. He was not a big fan of the law and made his opinion known. The Trump Administration, however, did not dismantle FCPA enforcement and in fact, DOJ and the SEC increased FCPA enforcement. DOJ and the...
Can the DOJ’s commitment to holding individuals and corporations accountable under the FCPA survive the changing political climate in 2025? Will the push for innovation in corporate compliance programs be enough to maintain momentum, especially with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence? In this episode of Corruption, Crime and Compliance, Michael Volkov dives deep into the FCPA enforcement landscape of 2024, outlining key cases, changes in...
While DOJ did not have an overwhelming FCPA enforcement year, DOJ has devoted significant energy to tweaking its enforcement and compliance policies. These measures were believed to coincide with a number of significant prosecutions — but alas, they really did not materialize. The modifications and tweaks to DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Policy, however, were significant. DOJ’s primary focus has been on accountability and prosecution of individuals...
Criminals can be creative — that is a true statement but essentially FCPA criminals have to embrace a variety of well-established techniques to accomplish a straight-forward goal — steal money from the company to funnel bribery payments to foreign officials. The complement of 2024 FCPA cases saw some of our standard techniques (or schemes) but a few presented some new twists. To help organize these...
AAR, a provider of aviation products and services, engaged in two separate bribery schemes. State-owned entities and government agencies permeate the aviation industry. As a result, FCPA risks are embedded in direct industry activity and related services and suppliers. The AAR case is a perfect example of just how easy it is to engage in bribery in the aviation industry. AAR engaged in two separate...
What went wrong when McKinsey paid bribes to secure consulting contracts with South Africa’s state-owned enterprises? In this episode, Michael Volkov dives into the December 2024 DOJ settlement with McKinsey & Company, which paid $122 million after being found guilty of paying bribes to officials at Transnet and Eskom to secure valuable consulting contracts. The case involved significant violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...
In a far-reaching criminal case, in November 2024, the Justice Department unsealed a complex, five-count indictment in the Eastern District of New York charging eight defendants, including Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, executives of the Adani Group, a large Indian renewable-energy company, with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar...
