In this new aggressive era of sanctions and export controls enforcement, companies need to understand the potential risks that DOJ and/or OFAC may identify a company for sanctions investigation....more
5/14/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Customs ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) ,
Whistleblowers
No one was surprised when compliance and risk publications cited cybersecurity as the number one risk that corporations face today. While this is a relatively simplistic and head-line grabbing statement, the truth remains...more
Over the last ten years, we have seen a marked shift from the Delaware Chancery Court chipping away at corporate board member liability claims. In a number of seminal cases involving Boeing airplane crashes (In re the Boeing...more
Defendants often face a tough choice — challenge the government’s evidence and if convicted, face significant jail time. On the flip side, defendants who plead guilty and cooperate can earn significant sentencing reductions,...more
In the absence of federal cybersecurity and data privacy laws, companies have to look to other sources of guidance, including industry standards, and state laws. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”)...more
The increase in internal reporting comes at a critical time when government-sponsored whistleblower programs are maturing and expanding into new agencies. The SEC’s program continues to increase and received a record number...more
OFAC is capable of extending a long-arm of enforcement, reaching sometimes non-U.S. companies that may “cause” another company to violate U.S. Sanctions laws. If you need to find an example of this long reach, look no...more
4/22/2024
/ Chemicals ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Financial Transactions ,
Fraudulent Wire Transfers ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Maritime Transport ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Plastics ,
Sanction Violations
The Justice Department has a long and rich history of targeting dominant companies using antitrust monopolization tools — looking back to the 1980s, it was AT&T; in the 1990s, it was Microsoft; and in 2023, DOJ has brought a...more
As DOJ, OFAC and BIS ramp up sanctions and export controls enforcement, they have continued to provide important compliance guidance. You have to give the enforcement agencies credit — on the one hand, they regularly warn of...more
4/18/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department is rightly trumpeting its successful sweep of the commodities trading industry. DOJ’s success is reflected in its six separate corporate resolutions and 20 individual convictions, resulting in over...more
Trafigura’s bribery scheme resembles the same schemes implemented by its significant competitors — Vitol, Glencore, Gunvor. At the core of the conduct, Petrobras and Brazilian government officials collected bribes in...more
4/10/2024
/ Brazil ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petrobras ,
White Collar Crimes
On the heels of the Gunvor FCPA settlement for $661 million, DOJ announced its settlement with Trafigura, the latest commodities trading company to fall under DOJ’s FCPA Sweep against the industry. Trafigura joined the list...more
4/9/2024
/ Bribery ,
Commodities ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
White Collar Crimes
After months and months of deliberations and negotiations, the SEC finally issued its final rules for climate disclosures. The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investor (“the final rule”)....more
DOJ has been on a public relations campaign to push a simple message for corporations: if companies learn of misconduct, companies should disclose such misconduct to earn valuable benefits. The quintessential question...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission has gained well-publicized traction through its formal whistleblower bounty program. Only a small portion of these whistleblower reports involve FCPA, anti-bribery allegations. ...more
OFAC is getting ready for a big year. While managing a comprehensive set of sanctions against the Russian Federation in response to its Invasion of Ukraine, OFAC has demonstrated its ability to maintain aggressive...more
LRN’s latest report was based on a survey of more than 1,400 ethics and compliance professionals, most of whom were employed at organizations with at least 1000 employees in 19 different countries and 26 industries across...more
The Department of Justice’s blockbuster FCPA settlement with Gunvor restores the credibility of DOJ’s pronouncements of DOJ’s commitment to aggressive FCPA enforcement. While I have questioned DOJ’s commitment to its...more
3/21/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
Gunvor’s bribery scheme is not very surprising nor ingenious. After all, a number of energy trading companies have been prosecuted for bribery over the years, including Glencore, Vitol, Freepoint. Numerous individuals have...more
You have to give the Justice Department credit — after two slow enforcement years, DOJ is starting off 2024 with a relative “bang;” first, DOJ reached a large settlement with SAP in January, and now, DOJ has reached a...more
3/19/2024
/ Bribery ,
Commodities Traders ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering ,
Statutory Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
In the face of rapid technology changes, the Department of Justice usually has to play catch up. When cryptocurrency and blockchain entered the United States economy, the Justice Department played catch up. Fraudsters and...more
Boeing continues to struggle. As troubles mount for Boeing, it is clear that it suffers from real and pervasive culture issues that have been reflected in serious safety failures, financial difficulties, regulatory...more
3/6/2024
/ Aviation Industry ,
Boeing ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Ethics ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
ITAR ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Settlement ,
US Department of State
When it comes to FCPA enforcement, the Justice Department’s global focus for many years was on Asian countries, and in particular, China. This trend, however, has continued, but in the past few years, DOJ has brought a...more
In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the case, Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC et al. (February 8, 2024). The Supreme Court’s decision reaffirms an...more
2/21/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Murray v UBS Securities LLC ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
UBS ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
The past two years brought heightened scrutiny to supply chain risks and human rights violations, and time is running out to ensure your organization is compliant with the recent regulation updates and policy...more
2/19/2024
/ Business Operations ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Human Rights ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability ,
Transparency ,
Webinars