On August 14, 2020, the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) issued its first Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) advisory opinion in almost six years....more
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused extreme market turmoil. While it appears that the initial shock is subsiding, there is the possibility that market volatility will continue if there is another surge in COVID-19 cases and as...more
On the eve of the July 4th holiday, the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) and the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) quietly published the second edition of the...more
On June 22, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission, which found that disgorgement awards that do not exceed a wrongdoer’s net profits (gross profits...more
7/2/2020
/ 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5) ,
Administrative Authority ,
Business Expenses ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Lack of Authority ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Net Profits ,
Remedies ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
With more than 130 highly trained enforcement accountants at his disposal, Matthew Jacques, the Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), provided a firsthand glimpse into current enforcement...more
On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that an investment adviser (IA) cannot willfully make a negligent disclosure in its Forms ADV. The decision vacated a combined $150,000 in fines that the...more
On August 24, 2018, nearly 18 months after hearing oral argument, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision in United States v. Hoskins, that significantly limits the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”)...more
2017 marked the fortieth anniversary of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and showed continued robust enforcement against both individuals and companies by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities...more
3/9/2018
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Welcome to the 2017 Year-End Report from the BakerHostetler Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Practice Team.
The purpose of this report is to provide a periodic survey of matters we believe to be of interest...more
On February 12, 2018, the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a new initiative to encourage advisers to self-report share class violations. Share class violations occur...more
On November 29, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein expanded upon the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) long-running efforts to encourage companies to self-disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) violations by...more
The first half of 2017 has been eagerly anticipated following the record-setting year in 2016 for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement by both the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Securities and...more
8/29/2017
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration ,
White Collar Crimes
2016 was a record-setting year for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement, as both the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recovered well over $2 billion in...more
1/26/2017
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Appearing before the annual Securities Docket Conference in Washington, DC on October 13, Kara Novaco Brockmeyer, the Chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s FCPA Unit, laid out the Commission’s FCPA enforcement...more
Both the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have continued their focus on anticorruption enforcement in 2015. Although there was a decline in enforcement...more
4/20/2016
/ Corporate Fraud ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Investigations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Yates Memorandum
Pursuing a classic “carrot and stick” approach to incentivizing corporate self-disclosure of FCPA violations and individual wrongdoing connected to FCPA violations, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Fraud Section announced a...more
The investigation and prosecution of tax evasion has, in the past decade, grown from a specialized subcategory of law enforcement into a first-tier policy concern for the international community. Financial institutions,...more
With the approaching financial year-end and the consequences of external audits, along with the new and increased risk of individual liability executives face in light of the recent Department of Justice “Yates Memorandum”,...more
Despite a decline in enforcement actions by the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the first half of 2015 has continued to highlight the relevance and ever-evolving effects of the...more
10/14/2015
/ Aerospace ,
Africa ,
Angola ,
Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Avon ,
BHP Billiton ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Clean Companies Act ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivative Suit ,
DPA ,
Eli Lilly ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Prosecutors ,
Fokker ,
Football ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Goodyear ,
Hospitality Programs ,
India ,
Indictments ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Money Laundering ,
Olympics ,
PBSJ Corporation ,
PetroTiger ,
Popular ,
Public Utility ,
Racketeering ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Settlement ,
Soccer ,
Sports ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
UK Bribery Act ,
Wal-Mart ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud ,
World Cup
In 2014, a record-setting year for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the largest-ever DOJ FCPA resolution—an over $772 million criminal fine for French power company...more
Over the course of 2014, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) have continued their aggressive enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). This has led to critical...more
The first half of 2014 has seen several important developments in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) as well as other anti-corruption laws worldwide. The FCPA has been in existence for more than 35...more
Recently, in the wake of massive protests throughout Brazil concerning corruption and other issues, Brazilian President Dilma Vana Rousseff dramatically increased anti-corruption prohibitions in Brazil by signing into law the...more