Janet Longo, Regulatory Compliance Analyst at The Volkov Law Group, joins us for a posting on videoconferencing and compliance export controls. Janet can be reached at [email protected]. As the Covid-19 virus is proliferating, so is the practice of conducting business through videoconferencing from home. While many commentators have discussed the serious data privacy and security problems associated with video conferencing, we’ve been thinking about the...

The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) recently announced a settlement against Cobham Holdings (and its former subsidiary Aeroflex/Metelics, Inc. (“Metelics”, a software company) for $87,507 for violations of OFAC’s Ukraine-Russia sanctions program.  (OFAC announcement here). Metelics violated the Ukraine-Russia sanctions program on three occasions between July 31, 2014 and January 15, 2015,  by selling telecommunications and computer software (3,400 switch limiters;...

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...

Compliance officers are a much more collaborative group of professionals than lawyers.  Compliance officers share information with colleagues about compliance experiences, best practices and strategies.  The compliance industry benefits from this sharing of information. On occasion, however, this sharing of a company’s performance in one area can lead to unfair judgments by a recipient of the information.  For example, one company may conduct an in-depth...

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...

Forgive me for overusing the term “convergence” but when the shoe fits, I say “wear it.”   If you are managing corporate risks and are responsible for securing export licenses, ensuring that you are complying with OFAC sanctions requirements, interacting with customs and immigration officials around the globe, and conducting third party due diligence to onboard a new agent or distributor, there is no question that...

Financial institutions have been pushing back hard on FinCEN’s proposal to require banks, investment banks and other financial institutions to identify beneficial owners of account holders. As time goes on the impact of FinCEN’s proposal is diminishing. Why? In general, businesses have other reasons to secure beneficial ownership information. One key concern is sanctions compliance. To the extent an account holder engages in international transactions,...

Putting aside the politics surrounding the Iran Nuclear Deal, the exchange of prisoners and other hot button political issues surrounding Implementation Day and the change in US-Iran relations, the new Iran sanctions create a new set of challenges for trade compliance officers. Talk about a headache — all you have to do is look at the new guidance, Frequently Asked Questions, and related documentation (Here)....

Webinar: 2016 Year in Review:  AML and Sanctions Enforcement Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 12 Noon EST Sign Up Here The Justice Department and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control had another strong year in AML and Sanctions enforcement. With ever-changing sanctions programs, and vigilant AML enforcement, businesses now face significant risks of civil and criminal enforcement. Sanctions enforcement has stretched beyond financial institutions...