Podcast: Conductive Discussions: Recent FRAND & Trade Secret Enforcement Trends Affecting the Semiconductor Industry
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 243-Lessons Learned from Olympus and Qualcomm FCPA Enforcement Actions
OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, reached a deal this week with the state of Oklahoma in which they will pay “$270 million to avoid going to a state court trial over the company’s role in the...more
Fascinating weekend feature from the Journal exploring how Sears Roebuck went from the dominant force in American retailing to the bankrupt shell of a company that it is now—all within a period of just 40 years....more
Facebook’s disappointing Q2 earnings (and, presumably, some pent-up scandal-fueled anti-‘Book sentiment) sent its stock into freefall yesterday, erasing more than $120 billion from the company’s market value as shares dove...more
The notoriously close-to-the-vest Amazon revealed for the first time yesterday in a letter to shareholders that its popular Prime program boasts more than 100 million paid members globally....more
Breakingviews on what the White House’s intervention into Broadcom’s [dropped] bid for Qualcomm could mean for the US-based chip maker. [Hint, it involves China, and it’s not great for the big Q]....more
Notwithstanding Lloyd’s assurances that the rumors of his demise are premature, Goldman has cleared the path forward for David Solomon (aka, one of its current co-Presidents, aka, DJ D-Sol) to assume the CEO position when Mr....more
Analysis of the Fed’s January meeting minutes shows Fed officials suggesting that robust economic growth has created the right conditions for higher interest rates....more
Breakingviews on Broadcom’s threat to Qualcomm’s board in the form of a slate of 11 director nominees for the company it has, so far, unsuccessfully attempted to purchase....more
AT&T’s chief is weighing in the DOJ’s call to sell CNN in order to make its deal with Time Warner go through, and, as Randall sees it, “selling CNN makes no sense”....more
In a shareholder derivative action, to survive a motion to dismiss for failure to plead facts showing demand futility, a derivative plaintiff must plead particularized facts showing either actual involvement by a majority of...more
On June 16, 2017, Vice Chancellor Tamika Montgomery-Reeves of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed breach of fiduciary duty and other claims brought derivatively against the directors and former chief financial officer of...more
Shearman & Sterling’s bi-annual Trends & Patterns in FCPA Enforcement report provides insightful analysis of recent enforcement trends and patterns in the US, the UK and elsewhere, as well as helpful guidance on emerging best...more
Qualcomm is reportedly set to acquire NXP Semiconductors for just shy of $40 billion in a deal that would help Qualcomm move beyond smartphone chips and into the broader internet of things....more
Just to add my voice to the cottage industry surrounding FCPA enforcement and compliance, I wanted to take a deep breath and offer some observations on FCPA enforcement in 2016. There are a few significant headlines...more
One of the top academic commentators in the anti-corruption space is Matthew C. Stephenson, co-founder of the Global Anticorruption Blog. I was intrigued by Stephenson’s piece, entitled “Does an FCPA Violation Require a Quid...more
On March 1, 2016, the SEC announced that Qualcomm Incorporated, a San Diego-based wireless telecommunication product company, agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle charges that its actions violated the Foreign Corrupt...more
Busy Q1 Yields Several Significant FCPA Resolutions - Overview - On February 19, during the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) annual “SEC Speaks” conference, Kara Brockmeyer, Chief of the SEC’s FCPA...more
California Federal Court Refuses to Stop FERC Lawsuit to Uphold the Validity of US $453 Million Penalty for Manipulating Electricity Prices: A federal court in California refused to stop a lawsuit by the Federal Energy...more
Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FPCA) enforcement action against Qualcomm Inc. for violations on the Accounting Provisions of the FCPA, including both the...more
The SEC had a significant courtroom victory this week, prevailing in the Payton insider trading trial. A jury returned a verdict in favor of the agency. ...more
Gifts and hospitality continue to be a key theme in the SEC’s latest FCPA case. The action also involves hiring relatives of officials and ignoring risk in the face of a weak compliance and internal control environment. In...more
Shareholder proponent James McRitchie, who was successful in persuading the SEC to reconsider its no-action position with Whole Foods on proxy access, has hinted at his intentions for the upcoming proxy season, or at least...more
The key to being a successful (FCPA) prognosticator is never to keep score. If you do, you are likely to be disappointed. Instead, I follow the strategy of calculated distraction – for example, I predicted last year...more
Welcome to the May 2014 edition of Red Notice, a publication of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. This month, on the anticorruption front, Avon Products, Inc. (“Avon”) agrees to pay USD $135 million to settle a...more