Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) remained a high priority for the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2016, resulting in more than 50 combined enforcement actions, record...more
2/8/2017
/ Books & Records ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Successor Liability ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblowers
The SEC recently charged a New York-based broker-dealer, Windsor Street Capital, L.P. (f/k/a Meyers Associates, L.P.) and John David Telfer, who acted as Windsor’s Chief Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering Officer for...more
On January 6, 2017, the Securities and Enforcement Commission filed an Administrative Action announcing a settlement with two global agribusiness companies. The Order is brief and short on facts. ...more
On November 15, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released its annual report to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program (the “Program”). As noted in prior reports, the past year has been historic...more
On November 14, 2016, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced an award of at least $20 million to a whistleblower for providing information that initiated a successful investigation and enforcement...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced a settlement with a Nevada corporation of its first stand-alone whistleblower anti-retaliation case. On September 29, the SEC announced a $500,000 sanction...more
On Wednesday September 28, 2016, the SEC announced Jane Norberg as the new chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. Ms. Norberg said: “It has been an honor serving in the roles of deputy and acting chief and working...more
On September 21, 2016, Mary Jo White, Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) spoke at a Legal Practice Division Luncheon at the International Bar Association Annual Conference. She discussed the...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently announced that two companies agreed to pay penalties of more than $500,000, combined, for illegally requiring employees to waive their rights to monetary awards from the...more
On June 9, 2016, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced its second largest award under the agency’s Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program. This is the largest such award issued since the SEC issued a $30...more
A federal appellate court recently held that the five-year statute of limitations in 28 U.S.C. § 2462 applies to actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission for declaratory relief and disgorgement. The decision extends...more
In the past week, the SEC has issued two multimillion dollar awards to whistleblowers. The announcement of two significant awards in quick succession suggests that the “significant uptick” in in the number of tips noted by...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently announced the largest ever award under its Whistleblower Program created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The whistleblower...more
So you want to use the government’s EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (“EB-5 Program”) to raise cash? Be aware that the SEC will be looking over your shoulder to determine whether you are acting as an unregistered broker-dealer...more
On March 1, 2016, the SEC announced that Qualcomm Incorporated, a San Diego-based wireless telecommunication product company, agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle charges that its actions violated the Foreign Corrupt...more
3/31/2016
/ Books & Records ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Internal Controls ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Neither Admit Nor Deny Settlements ,
Popular ,
Qualcomm ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On Tuesday, March 8, 2016, in conjunction with announcing a recent $2 million whistleblower award, Sean McKessey, Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower, stated that the SEC continues to see “a significant uptick” in the...more
When asked about the relatively slow year of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) prosecutions in 2015, the Chief of the DOJ Criminal Division’s Fraud Section suggested last month: “one year isn’t long enough to tell the...more
2/23/2016
/ Bribery ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telecommunications ,
VimpelCom
On February 16, 2016, the SEC announced its first ever deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) with an individual in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) case. As part of a settlement in which a Massachusetts-based...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) settlements focus on companies’ lack of sufficient anti-corruption compliance programs, which means, to the SEC, that the companies...more
2/17/2016
/ Anti-Corruption ,
BHP Billiton ,
Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Internal Controls ,
SAP SE ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Young Lawyers
In planning that trip to promote your products and to qualify under the FCPA affirmative defense of reasonable and bona fide expenditures, whatever you do, DO NOT take any foreign officials to Disneyland. On February 4, 2016,...more
Last week, the SEC announced an award of $700,000 to a company outsider who conducted a “detailed analysis” resulting in a successful SEC enforcement action. In a press release, Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Division...more