In this special episode of Corruption, Crime, and Compliance, Michael Volkov joins colleague and long-time friend Tom Fox as they delve into the intricacies of recent FCPA enforcement actions, shedding light on the evolving landscape of corporate compliance. From the ABB case to the SAP settlement, Michael and Tom dissect the nuances of voluntary disclosure, extensive remediation, and the shifting priorities of the Department of...

On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges and a related cease-and-desist order (the “Order”) against TradeStation Crypto, Inc. (“TradeStation”) for failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto-lending product.  In order to settle these charges, TradeStation agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty.  As part of the agreement, TradeStation did not admit or deny the findings.  TradeStation’s...

Matt Stankiewicz, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, joins us for another post discussing how the SEC’s recent settlement with BarnBridge DAO may impact the cryptocurrency industry. Matt can be contacted at [email protected]. On December 23, 2023, BarnBridge DAO (“BarnBridge”) and its founders, Tayler Ward and Troy Murray, agreed to settle charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).  BarnBridge violated Sections5(a) and 5(c) of...

FCPA trends often are relatively easy to describe and often overblown as a marketing technique by the usual cast of paparazzi suspects.  (Self-proclaimed prognosticators that often push incorrect themes to promote business, or those that restate profound grasps of the obvious).  2023 has been a strange year in a number of respects — socially, politically and even in the small universe of DOJ enforcement and...

SAP agreed to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement, in exchange for the payment of approximately $220 million in penalties for bribe payments made to South African and Indonesia government officials.  DOJ’s resolution includes a criminal penalty of $118.8 million and forfeiture of $103.4 million, along with a credit of $55.1 million against amounts paid by SAP to South African law enforcement authorities, and the full...

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 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has a message for publicly-traded companies that suffer a data breach: own up. On Monday, the SEC sued Texas-based SolarWinds––and its Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”)––for defrauding investors by allegedly failing to disclose known security risks in public filings. This marks the SEC’s first ever enforcement action against an individual corporate officer over their mishandling of a data breach––but...

The Securities and Exchange Commission continues to rack up FCPA enforcement actions.  In its latest settlement, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings agreed to pay $26.1 million for bribery violations committed by its former Chinese subsidiary.  According to Clear Channel, the Department of Justice closed its FCPA investigation.  Clear Channel, a San Antonio-based advertising company, paid bribes to Chinese government officials with cash, gift cards, first-class travel,...

On September 29, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged several firms with recordkeeping failures. These recordkeeping failures relate to pervasive and longstanding off-channel communications.  Generally, all of these actions relate to the widespread use of various messaging apps that ultimately violate SEC requirements and circumvent internal corporate controls.  These are the latest enforcement actions in a string of similar penalties by the SEC...