On November 22, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit proposed an amendment to 5th Cir. Rule 32.3 and Form 6, which would have introduced a requirement for attorneys to certify the extent to which...more
How the New Law Creates Legal Risks and Opportunities for International Businesses -
On December 22, 2023, President Biden signed into law the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will give the U.S....more
1/5/2024
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
FEPA ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
NDAA ,
Popular ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Travel Act ,
Wire Fraud
On October 4, 2023, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a new “Mergers & Acquisitions Safe Harbor Policy” (“M&A Safe Harbor Policy” or “Policy”) for companies that voluntarily...more
10/19/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure ,
Disgorgement ,
Individual Accountability ,
Mergers ,
Remediation ,
Restitution ,
Safe Harbors ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Sensitive Business Information
To close out 2021, enforcement authorities throughout the Americas continued to investigate fraud, corruption, and other misconduct across the region. For 2022, we expect an uptick of anticorruption investigations as a...more
3/4/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
El Salvador ,
Enforcement ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Guatemala ,
Honduras ,
Latin America ,
OECD
This summary is part of our regular reporting of trends and developments related to investigations and enforcement activity into fraud, corruption, and other misconduct by authorities in the United States and the Americas and...more
8/9/2021
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Austria ,
Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
DEA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
FBI ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Guatemala ,
Investigations ,
Latin America ,
Mexico ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK
Enforcement authorities throughout the Americas continued investigations of fraud, corruption, and other misconduct across the region. Below are some of the highlights of the last quarter. ...more
5/28/2021
/ Brazil ,
Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Latin America ,
Mexico ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Venezuela ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wiretapping
As 2020 drew to a close, enforcement authorities throughout the United States and the Americas continued to investigate fraud, corruption, and other misconduct across the region. In this newsletter, we highlight some...more
3/11/2021
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Money Laundering ,
NDAA ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
As 2020 drew to a close, enforcement authorities throughout the United States and the Americas continued to investigate fraud, corruption, and other misconduct across the region. Below, we highlight some developments from...more
1/22/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Corruption ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Ecuador ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Latin America ,
Mexico ,
Money Laundering ,
NDAA ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sweden ,
Whistleblowers
DOJ Enforcement in Latin America Continues Despite Pandemic -
During the 3rd quarter, the Department of Justice made a number of high-profile arrests and concluded plea agreements in several cases related to Latin...more
11/24/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Appeals ,
Bribery ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Embezzlement ,
Extradition ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Latin America ,
Mexico Supreme Court of Justice ,
Money Laundering ,
National Security Agency (NSA)
In this October edition, we are delighted to present legal and industry updates from the firm’s global network of offices. The selection is based upon our experience of the wide variety of issues
faced by our clients in...more
On October 8, 2020, the World Bank Group (“WBG”) issued its Sanctions System Annual Report for the fiscal year 2020 (the “Report”), detailing the WBG’s efforts to investigate and adjudicate allegations of sanctionable...more
On June 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released updated guidance entitled “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” (“Updated Guidance”), which provides the DOJ Criminal Division’s views on what comprises...more
Energy Explosion: 10 Trends to Watch in Energy Restructuring -
On April 20, 2020, U.S. benchmark crude traded negative for the first time. This drastic drop in price was caused by the perfect storm of the Saudi...more
5/20/2020
/ Carbon Off-Set Credits ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Energy Sector ,
Foreign Investment ,
Mexico ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Renewable Energy ,
Russia ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Sustainability ,
Testimony
Enforcement authorities throughout the United States and Latin America are grappling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is dramatically changing the economic landscape and is sure to change the enforcement...more
In the fourth quarter of 2019, U.S. enforcement authorities sustained efforts to prosecute individuals violating U.S. anticorruption laws in matters related to Latin America, while authorities in Latin America, including in...more
1/22/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Asset Seizure ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Legislative Vetoes ,
Mexico ,
Peru ,
Sanction Violations ,
Statutory Authority ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On October 10, 2019, the World Bank Group issued its second joint Sanctions System Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2019 (“Report”), which addresses the World Bank’s efforts to investigate and adjudicate allegations of...more
Enforcement authorities throughout the United States and the Americas continue to aggressively investigate fraud and corruption across the region in the third quarter of 2019. Below, we highlight some recent developments and...more
10/14/2019
/ Airlines ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Argentina ,
Aviation Industry ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
Chile ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Investigations ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ecuador ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Government Investigations ,
Indictments ,
Kickbacks ,
Latin America ,
Mexico ,
Money Laundering ,
Peru ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
Recent debarments of contractors by the World Bank underscore the need for entities working under multilateral development bank (“MDB”) contracts to implement effective anti-corruption project finance mitigation strategies...more
10/3/2019
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Banks ,
Collusion ,
Colombia ,
Competitive Bidding ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Indonesia ,
Misrepresentation ,
Project Finance ,
Spain ,
Suspensions & Debarments ,
World Bank
Significant Changes to FERC’s Rules for Market-Based Rate Sellers -
On July 18, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued two orders modifying its rules for sellers to obtain or retain authorization...more
The U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and their enforcement partners throughout Latin America remain focused on actively investigating corruption activities and bringing enforcement actions...more
7/1/2019
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Brazil ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
FBI ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Investigations ,
Latin America ,
Medical Devices ,
Mexico ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements
Corporate Compliance Programs: DOJ Issues Updated Guidance: Ten Takeaways for In-House Legal and Compliance Leaders -
On April 30, 2019, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski unveiled an update to the Department of...more
On April 30, 2019, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski unveiled an update to the Department of Justice’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs during a speech in Dallas, Texas. In issuing the new document (the...more
6/14/2019
/ Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Management ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Employee Training ,
Ethics ,
Guidance Update ,
Internal Controls ,
Multinationals ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Target Company ,
Third-Party Risk ,
Training ,
Whistleblower Hotlines ,
Whistleblowers
On April 30, 2019, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski unveiled an update to the Department of Justice’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs during a speech in Dallas, Texas.[i] In issuing the new document...more
5/6/2019
/ Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employee Training ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guidance Update ,
Multinationals ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Training ,
Whistleblower Hotlines ,
Whistleblowers
Argentina’s corruption notebooks scandal is just as it sounds—a scandal initiated by eight notebooks documenting at least seven years of elaborate corruption schemes involving senior officials in Argentina’s government. The...more
Increasing Challenges for Energy Producers -
Several state attorneys general (“state AGs”) recently have undertaken high-profile investigations into energy producers’ research and public statements about the potential...more