Franks International (“Frank’s”) settled FCPA charges with the SEC for $8 million stemming from operations in Angola during the period 2008 to 2014. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Frank’s for the same events....more
5/11/2023
/ Angola ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Once defined, installed, and surrounded with a consequence management system, a corporate culture is not fixed in stone. To the contrary, as the business adapts through growth, innovation or in response to outside market and...more
NAVEX Global always provides insightful and important whitepapers and annual reports. One of the more important annual reports is NAVEX’s Hotline and Incident Management Report. Given Navex’s important position in the...more
4/18/2023
/ Annual Reports ,
Anonymity ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corruption ,
Employees ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hotlines ,
Oral Complaints ,
Retaliation ,
Whistleblower Hotlines ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
Microsoft’s remedial steps provide important best-practices for companies facing similar risk factors in the global economy, especially for global software companies that rely on Internet-based operations....more
4/12/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Best Practices ,
Blocked Person ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Microsoft ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Software ,
US Trade Policies
OFAC announced only one settlement in the first three months of 2023. Given its ongoing role in the implementation and enforcement of Russia Sanctions, OFAC’s enforcement record so far is completely understandable. The...more
4/11/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Fines ,
Microsoft ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Software
If there ever is an example of a rotten corporate culture, Wells Fargo sits at the head of the class. Since Wells Fargo’s sales pressure scandal, Wells Fargo has continued to suffer from a string of scandals and misconduct. ...more
3/30/2023
/ Banks ,
Code of Conduct ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Fines ,
Government Investigations ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
OCC ,
Performance Incentives ,
Popular ,
Tone At The Top ,
Wells Fargo
Rio Tinto, the global mining and metals company, agreed to pay the SEC $15 million to settle FCPA violations arising from an alleged bribery scheme involving a senior Guinean government official....more
Flutter Entertainment, the previous owner of PokerStars, agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $4 million for improper payments to Russian-based consultants, stemming from conduct committed by The Stars Group,...more
3/28/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Online Gaming ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sports Betting ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department has been pushing its voluntary self-disclosure program and changes to its Corporate Enforcement Policy, in an attempt to increase FCPA enforcement cooperation. The Golden Ring for every company facing...more
3/23/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
The end of the road for Roger Ng, the Goldman Sachs Investment Banker, who played a critical role in the Goldman Sachs 1 MDB Malaysia scandal, was not a pretty one. District Judge Margo Brodie gave Ng a severe sentence of...more
3/16/2023
/ 1MDB ,
Bonds ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Malaysia ,
Money Laundering ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds ,
White Collar Crimes
This is not your typical FCPA enforcement action Lessons Learned column. Instead, Ericsson’s breach of its DPA presents a laundry list of internal investigation errors – as a practitioner in this area, this is the nightmare...more
3/9/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Document Management ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Investigations ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
Ericsson’s breach of its 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement reads like an internal investigation horror show. It is every investigator’s nightmare scenario – failure to discover evidence that was available to inform and...more
3/8/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Iraq ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
Ericsson, a multinational telecommunications company, based in Sweden, settled its breach of its 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement, agreed to enter a guilty plea and pay a $206 million penalty. In 2019, Ericsson entered...more
3/7/2023
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Iraq ,
ISIS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department is on a marketing campaign – pushing a simple message. If your company commits misconduct, come in and confess to the Justice Department. To push this message, DOJ has tinkered with its Corporate...more
I am sticking with my 2023 prediction – DOJ is committed to aggressive enforcement of the Russia sanctions. Most of its efforts to date have been directed against Russian Oligarchs and significant evaders who are moving...more
3/1/2023
/ Civil Forfeiture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Indictments ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
In a recent decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals handed the U.S. Justice Department a victory in reversing an “out-of-whack” trial judge’s dismissal of two separate criminal indictments that were consolidated on...more
2/22/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Indictments ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
In its first enforcement action of 2023, the Justice Department charged a Connecticut man and a foreign national with FCPA bribery and money laundering charges stemming from a bribery scheme to secure contracts with Petrobras...more
2/21/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petrobras ,
Popular ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department has a long-record of criminal prosecutions of companies for manufacturing food products under unsanitary conditions. In recent years, DOJ has prosecuted Blue Bell Ice Cream, Chipotle, ConAgra Grocery,...more
2/17/2023
/ Compliance ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Recalls ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Kellogg Company ,
Public Health ,
Retail Market ,
Salmonella
The Justice Department has taken steps to implement its new compliance compensation requirement announced in its Corporate Enforcement Policy revisions. With little fanfare, the Danske Bank $2 billion settlement with the...more
Here are some basic propositions that surround FCPA compliance. It is often underplayed that the FCPA contains more than just a bribery prohibition – the FCPA contains broad provisions, requiring accurate books and records...more
2/8/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ethics ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
White Collar Crimes
DOJ is poised for a big year in the enforcement of Russian Sanctions and seizure of assets connected to Russian Oligarchs. It has been nearly a year since the U.S., its allies and partners have unleashed robust sanctions...more
In an ironic twist (or you just can’t make this up moment, whichever you prefer), the Justice Department announced the arrest of Charles McGonigal, the former Special Agent in Charge (“SAC”) of the FBI’s Counterintelligence...more
2/1/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Falsified Documents ,
FBI ,
Foreign Policy ,
Indictments ,
Money Laundering ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice announced revisions to its Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”) yet again in order to promote voluntary disclosures by Companies that discover potential wrongdoing. DOJ’s latest action demonstrated...more
DOJ closed out its FCPA enforcement year in 2022 with two significant settlements, the ABB and Honeywell cases. Aside from these two big settlements, there was a flurry of other actions in the last quarter of 2022....more
1/13/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission bounced back in 2022 to restore their records for aggressive FCPA enforcement. At the same time, DOJ announced significant new compliance program...more
1/10/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes