On June 26, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court held 6-3 in Snyder v. United States that a federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B), does not criminalize “gratuities” to state and local officials—i.e., payments made to those...more
Key Points - On May 21, 2024, the DOJ announced its first ever declination under the NSD’s updated Enforcement Policy, declining to prosecute Sigma-Aldrich Inc., d/b/a MilliporeSigma (a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,...more
6/7/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Enforcement ,
Export Controls ,
Incentives ,
National Security ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
Executive Summary -
- On March 7, 2024, the NSD of the DOJ issued an updated NSD Enforcement Policy to include a new section covering VSDs in connection with mergers and acquisitions.
- These updates follow repeated...more
3/19/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
Key Points -
On January 16, 2024, Matthew Axelrod, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s BIS announced key updates to BIS’s VSD process. The updates are also now reflected on BIS’s...more
1/26/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Enforcement ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
National Security ,
Negligence ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Penalties ,
Penalty Reductions ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Voluntary Disclosure
Key Points -
On March 30, 2023, OFAC announced a settlement agreement with Wells Fargo for 124 apparent violations of three different sanctions programs (Iran, Syria and Sudan), all related to a legacy Wachovia Bank...more
4/18/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
Wells Fargo
Key Points -
The DOJ recently announced several policy updates tethering resolution of criminal investigations to a company’s compensation and bonus programs.
These updates include executive compensation focused...more
Key Points -
On March 2, 2023, DOJ announced that its NSD would hire more than 25 new prosecutors to investigate and prosecute sanctions evasion, export controls violations and similar economic crimes. Consistent with...more
The New Year Brings a New Enforcement Focus on Emerging Technology -
In 2021, newly confirmed members of the Biden administration set the stage for increased enforcement activity, surging resources to investigations and...more
Key Points -
The U.S. Department of Commerce has reorganized and clarified the regulations describing when foreign-produced items outside the United States are and are not subject to the licensing and other obligations of...more