The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently announced the settlement of its first enforcement action involving foreign corruption. In December 2020, the CFTC issued a Consent Order, finding that Houston-based...more
4/1/2021
/ Bribery ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consent Order ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Insider Trading ,
Kickbacks ,
Oil & Gas ,
Willful Misconduct
On January 28, 2021, Transparency International released its 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (“CPI”). Transparency International is an organization focused on stopping global corruption and promoting transparency,...more
On January 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was inaugurated as the forty-sixth President of the United States. With the change in Presidential administration, we expect new priorities with regard to compliance and...more
As we look back on 2020, several FCPA enforcement trends emerge. The following summarizes the key statistics and developments in 2020:
•The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) brought 29 enforcement actions in 2020. 7 companies...more
On October 22, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the coordinated $2.9 billion resolution of a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action against The...more
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the U.S. Coast Guard issued a global advisory (the “Advisory”), providing information and...more
On July 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the settlement of apparent violations of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations by Essentra FZE Company Limited...more
On June 1, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published an updated version of its guidance for “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs,” originally published in February 2017. The guidance is intended to assist...more
On May 7, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Kelly v. United States, reversing the convictions of Bridget Anne Kelly and William Baroni, two appointees of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie,...more
6/1/2020
/ Appeals ,
Bridgegate ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Federal-Program Fraud ,
Governor Christie ,
Intent to Obtain Money or Property ,
Kelly v United States ,
Political Scandals ,
Public Officials ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Wire Fraud
In November 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued revisions to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) Corporate Enforcement Policy (“Policy”). The Policy, which was first introduced in 2016, offers...more
On March 31, 2020, Governor Greg Abbott issued Executive Order GA-14 (the “Order”) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Order took effect at 12:01 A.M. on April 2, 2020 and is set to expire on April 30, 2020. Pursuant...more
The COVID-19 pandemic national emergency has changed the way organizations are conducting business. As businesses adapt and begin to adjust to this new environment, it is important not to lose sight of the policies and...more
As we discussed in our December 2019 Compliance Alert, former Alston S.A. senior executive Lawrence Hoskins was convicted in November 2019 by a Connecticut jury on six counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...more
On January 13, 2020, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced the findings of an investigation into allegations that the Houston Astros had engaged in sign stealing during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The investigation determined...more
As we look back on 2019, several FCPA enforcement trends emerge. The following summarizes the key statistics and developments in 2019:
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) brought 29 enforcement actions in 2019. 12 guilty...more
On November 8, 2019 former Alstom S.A. senior executive Lawrence Hoskins was convicted on six counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), three counts of money laundering, and two counts of conspiracy for...more
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a new “Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments” (the “Framework”). The Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) is the Treasury Department’s arm that administers...more
In our last alert, we discussed three tips to ensure an effective internal investigation: (1) develop and follow internal policies; (2) identify the audience that will evaluate and make decisions at the outset of the...more
Whether big or small, internal investigations require companies to mobilize their resources efficiently and effectively. Internal investigations can be driven by external sources like the government or a lawsuit, while others...more
With the first half of 2019 in the rearview mirror, it is a good opportunity to review the overall trends in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement actions brought by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced on June 20, 2019 that Walmart, Inc. (“Walmart”) agreed to pay a combined total of $282.7 million to resolve the years-long...more
As discussed in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, the seven core principles of an effective integrity compliance program apply to businesses of any size, but there is no one-size-fits-all model to compliance. What is...more
In our last alert, we discussed the first three fundamental categories of an effective compliance program: (1) Risk Assessment; (2) Management Buy-in; and (3) Code of Conduct [see our previous alert for the full discussion ...more
Never has the need for anti-corruption compliance programs for American companies been greater than it is today. This is not only for large multi-national companies, but for small to medium-sized businesses, particularly...more
On March 6,2019, at the ABA’s National Institute on White Collar Crime, Jamie McDonald, the Director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (“CFTC”) Division of Enforcement, announced the publication of a new...more