After over a year of preview, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) has finally published information on its most recent enforcement actions.
The actions were announced on...more
9/4/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Security ,
Divestment ,
Enforcement ,
Failure to Comply ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
National Security Agency (NSA) ,
Penalties ,
Transparency
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) has published its Annual Report to Congress for 2023 (the “Annual Report”), which provides important data...more
8/8/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Annual Reports ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Declaration ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investigations ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
Mitigation ,
National Security ,
Notice Requirements ,
Proposed Rules ,
U.S. Treasury
Throughout December, the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom adopted a series of new sanctions packages against Russia that are expansive and multilayered and pose additional compliance challenges.
The new...more
1/11/2024
/ Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Imports ,
Jurisdiction ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil Prices ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Software ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
On September 14, 2023, the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) hosted its Second Annual CFIUS Conference (the “Conference”) regarding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) recently announced two settlements that underscore OFAC’s continued emphasis on companies developing and implementing effective, risk-based...more
On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, Matthew Axelrod, published a memorandum marking a shift in policy regarding voluntary...more
In 2022, the US, UK and EU all escalated their sanctions enforcement rhetoric. For example, senior US enforcement officials went so far as to describe sanctions as “the new FCPA” (referring to the US. Foreign Corrupt...more
2/17/2023
/ Civil Sanctions ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
Liability ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Russia ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Key Takeaways - On October 3, 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the “Pandora Papers,” which expose the use by political leaders, billionaires, and others of offshore entities in an...more
Key Takeaways - Because digital currencies allow for high-value transactions outside of the traditional U.S. banking system, OFAC has rigorously investigated whether digital currency service businesses may be facilitating...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued guidance on May 9, 2019, underscoring the application of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations relating to money...more
5/22/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
ATMs ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Casinos ,
Compliance ,
Convertible Virtual Currencies (CVCs) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exemptions ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Money Transfer ,
New Guidance ,
Payment Processors ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Risk Assessment ,
Terrorism Funding ,
Trading Platforms ,
Virtual Currency
On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) updated its guidance on evaluating corporate compliance programs (the “Update”). The original guidance, titled “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs,” (the “DOJ...more
On April 25, 2019, Haverly Systems, Inc. (Haverly) agreed to pay a penalty of $75,375 to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to settle charges related to two violations of sanctions...more
4/30/2019
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Goods or Services ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Payment Terms ,
Penalties ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SSI List
For years, regulators around the world have struggled with whether and how to police the offering and exchange of digital assets (including virtual currencies such as Bitcoin). In the United States, such efforts were stymied...more
12/17/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Blocked Person ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Economic Sanctions ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Risk Assessment ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
In 2017 there were a number of major sanctions developments in the EU and the US, with implications for businesses both in terms of keeping their compliance processes effective, and in terms of what to do if breaches are...more
2/6/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
CAATSA ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
North Korea ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Russia ,
Sovereign Debt ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Venezuela
Speaking at a conference in Maryland on November 29, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a revised Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”). This policy builds on the...more
In recent years, both the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have stepped up their enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), including to address...more
12/2/2016
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
India ,
Multinationals ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
New York-based hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group (the “Hedge Fund”) agreed to pay approximately $412 million to resolve charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Department of...more
10/28/2016
/ Africa ,
Anti-Bribery ,
Bribery ,
CEOs ,
CFOs ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Executives ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Hedge Funds ,
Personal Liability ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Yates Memorandum
International business transactions can be subject to intense scrutiny due to the broad scope of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the UK Bribery Act, in addition to other similar anti-corruption measures...more
10/21/2016
/ Compliance ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Terms ,
Contractual Safeguards ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Investment Funds ,
Mergers ,
Option Contracts ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Representations and Warranties ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Shareholders' Agreements ,
UK Bribery Act
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, together with other U.S. government agencies responsible for enforcing anti-money laundering (AML) and economic sanctions regulations, released guidance on August 30, 2016 in the form of a...more
9/1/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Depository Institutions ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Correspondent Banking ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
New Guidance ,
U.S. Treasury
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on August 25, 2015,1 pertaining to all investment advisers registered or required to be registered...more
FLIR Systems, Inc. (“FLIR”), a publicly traded company based in Oregon, agreed to pay approximately $9.5 million to settle allegations of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) on April 8, 2015. The U.S....more
4/15/2015
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Gifts ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
FLIR System ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Internal Controls ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Settlement ,
Training
The U.S. Government announced two major sanctions enforcement actions this week that reinforce the compliance challenges faced by both U.S. companies with international activities and non-U.S. companies subject to U.S....more
3/30/2015
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Guilty Pleas ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
PayPal ,
Sanctions ,
Schlumberger ,
Settlement ,
Sudan
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) prohibits bribing a “foreign official,” yet courts have rarely had the chance to weigh in on who exactly qualifies as a foreign official. Enforcement agencies have taken the position...more
Recent enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Government against non-U.S. banks for violations of U.S. sanctions laws demonstrate the need for financial institutions, particularly those that act as custodians or financial...more
1/30/2014
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
Compliance ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Banks ,
Iran ,
ITSR ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanctions ,
U.S. Treasury
What's the one thing missing from most corporate compliance programs?
For a legal perspective, that's the question we put to corporate attorneys writing on JD Supra, asking each to commit to just one essential element...more
11/13/2013
/ Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Crisis Management ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Documentation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Legal Perspectives ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)