On February 17, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in Smith, et al. v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, granted the Department of Justice’s request to stay the nationwide injunction that had...more
On February 10, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (E.O.) directing a shift in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The order effectively pauses new FCPA investigations and enforcement...more
2/13/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Trump Administration
On her first day in office, Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued a memorandum signaling a significant shift in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach to Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) enforcement. The memorandum...more
2/10/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Investigations ,
National Security ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
On December 5, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ), filed a Notice of Appeal in response to a U.S. District Court’s recently issued, nationwide preliminary injunction stopping the reporting obligations under the Corporate...more
12/12/2024
/ Appeals ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
FinCEN ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Texas ,
Unconstitutional Condition
In Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. et al. v. Merrick Garland, a U.S. District Court in Texas has issued a potentially major setback to the continued application of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which became effective on...more
12/6/2024
/ Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
First Amendment ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Texas ,
Unconstitutional Condition
Department of Justice (DOJ) Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that the DOJ is adopting a whistleblower incentive program today at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime. In...more
5/10/2024
/ CFTC ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
FEPA ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
IRS ,
Penalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice’s Criminal Division (DOJ) recently announced a Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosures for Individuals (the Individual VSD Pilot Program or Pilot Program), which allows certain individuals...more
Last year, on February 22, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a corporate Voluntary Self-Disclosure (VSD) policy, which is applicable to all U.S. Attorney’s Offices, setting nationwide incentives for voluntary...more
In the past five years, the Federal Government and “Qui Tam” Realtors have ramped up False Claims Act (“FCA”) actions against higher education institutions. These actions highlight the scope and breadth of potential FCA...more
1/23/2024
/ Colleges ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Fraud ,
Liability ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Title IV ,
Universities
United States international trade regulatory agencies have updated voluntary self-disclosure (“VSD”) policies and guidance in an effort to incentivize private sector companies and individuals to self-report violations of U.S....more
7/31/2023
/ Arms Export Control Act ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) ,
Export Controls ,
False Statements ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Incentives ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Self-Reporting ,
U.S. Treasury
On Friday, June 16, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States, ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., that the federal government has authority to dismiss qui tam (or whistleblower) False Claims Act...more
On November 28, the Small Business Administration (SBA) finalized a rule that requires veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) to obtain formal SBA certification to...more
In a highly anticipated speech, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco delivered remarks outlining updates to the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) perspective on the Corporate Crime Enforcement policy. These updates are the...more
Many investors, traditional and progressive, are looking hard at cryptocurrency investments as a way to diversify their portfolios. However, there are still multiple known “unknowns” about this new market, including the...more
2/24/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Export Controls ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Government’s ability to consistently and aggressively regulate, enforce and prosecute violations of the law during this crisis remains to be seen. Thus far, the...more
3/24/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Investigations ,
Law Enforcement ,
Scams
On February 26, a federal district court in Connecticut acquitted the defendant in United States v. Hoskins on all counts related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). A jury had previously found the defendant guilty...more
3/3/2020
/ Acquittals ,
Agency Relationship ,
Alstom ,
Bribery ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Indictments ,
Money Laundering ,
Post Trial Motions
Dear Friend of Snell & Wilmer:
The past year brought significant changes across a variety of political, legal, and policy spheres, and the world of U.S. international trade law was no exception. This edition of the...more
1/12/2018
/ Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cuba ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Iran ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NAFTA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Russia ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On April 5, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an Enforcement and Guidance Plan (Plan) concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). While the new Plan could be interpreted as a novel departure from past...more
9/19/2016
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Halliburton ,
Individual Accountability ,
KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) ,
OECD ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On Friday, March 1, 2013, the parent company of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. (Sands), reported in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company may have violated the “books and records and internal...more
On November 8, 2012, we opined in the Global Connection as to what to expect from the anticipated Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) guidance in regard to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...more