The facts surrounding Honeywell’s bribery schemes in Brazil and Algeria are fairly straightforward. In Brazil, the facts underscore the significant risks of bribery when companies participate in large, valuable project...more
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission had a strong FCPA enforcement year. However, there is certainly more to come and it is easy to predict that 2023 will be even a bigger year....more
In conjunction with the DOJ’s criminal indictment, the SEC brought civil charges against SBF. The SEC charged SBF with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in the FTX exchange (FTX Trading Ltd.). The SEC...more
The cryptocurrency world is in shock watching the events unfold around the stunning collapse of FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. The exchange seemed untouchable just days before everything fell apart. ...more
The Justice Department did not just willy-nilly announce its embrace of clawbacks and deferred payment compensation punishment as a remediation tool for companies that suffer an enforcement action and settlement. To the...more
Talk about a reminder of the past, Asante Berko, a former Executive Director in Goldman Sachs, recently was arrested in London on criminal FCPA charges arising from his involvement in a bribery scheme in Ghana....more
11/21/2022
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Ghana ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Indictments ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
The “hot” regulatory and compliance issue is incentives (and conversely disincentives). The Justice Department has launched an initiative to require compliance programs to institute clawbacks and other measures to recover...more
The old adage — if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably isn’t — still rings true when it comes to MoviePass, which ultimately resulted in a criminal indictment charging two former executives with securities fraud....more
11/10/2022
/ Business Profits ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Indictments ,
Investment ,
Market Manipulation ,
Marketing ,
Misrepresentation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Stock Prices ,
Subscription Services ,
Wire Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s bread-and-butter enforcement actions focus on accounting fraud. The SEC has a long history in uncovering fraudulent financial reporting schemes. In the early 2000s, Wall Street was...more
Oracle’s SEC settlement for $23 million underscores the power of the FCPA provisions mandating effective internal controls and accurate books and records. As everyone knows, these provisions can be applied to a wide-range of...more
10/4/2022
/ Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Oracle ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Third-Party Risk
Oracle Corporation settled its second FCPA case in ten years. Oracle agreed to pay $23 million to resolve allegations that its subsidiaries in Turkey, India and the United Arab Emirates maintained slush funds to bribe...more
The SEC has a long list of priorities and a full agenda. One issue on its list was to address changes needed to the SEC’s whistleblower program. ...more
You know companies face a new and aggressive enforcement regime when shorthand terms, such as “greenwashing,” are adopted prior to the implementation of comprehensive regulations governing disclosure of climate change issues...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission is quickly raising the stakes for global companies. Along with these new regulatory requirements, the risk of enforcement multiply, especially when it comes to corporate disclosure...more
Ericsson is having a tough time. First, in 2019, Ericsson settled FCPA charges with the Justice Department and the SEC for a total of $1 billion (with a B). Second, Ericsson had an independent compliance monitor appointed...more
6/15/2022
/ Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Internal Controls ,
Iraq ,
ISIS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Terrorist Organizations
In following the Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission FCPA enforcement actions, I am always reminded of the popular phrase — “reading the tea leaves.” (or “tasseography,” a fortune-telling method based on...more
6/8/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
The SEC announced another FCPA settlement in 2022. FCPA enforcement, in general, is picking up.
Tenaris, a global supplier of steel pipes and related services for the energy industry, agreed to pay the SEC $78 million to...more
6/7/2022
/ Bribery ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Disgorgement ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Petrobras ,
Prejudgment Interest ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
White Collar Crimes
The Securities and Exchange Commission is very busy these days – aggressive enforcement, new rules and regulations, and wrestling with the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry. The SEC will play a key role in rolling out...more
4/22/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
The Securities and Exchange Commission is busy. The new Chairman Gary Gensler hit the ground running and is pushing an active agenda of policy issues and enforcement. Along with this push, the SEC’s new enforcement director,...more
4/21/2022
/ Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Form 8-K ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Even though the size of the KT Corp. SEC enforcement action is relatively small, the underlying misconduct provides a number of important lessons learned. ...more
2/24/2022
/ Bribery ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Political Contributions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Third-Party Risk ,
White Collar Crimes
The SEC announced its first FCPA enforcement action in 2022. South Korean telecommunications company, KT Corporation, agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle FCPA violations. As part of the settlement, KT Corp. agreed to pay...more
2/22/2022
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Comply ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
South Korea ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
Ethics and compliance professionals believe in their mission – if they did not, they would not be in the field. E&C professionals believe in the power of positive thinking, ethical conduct, and in the overall ability of an...more
This was a strange year. Not just because of the continuing pandemic and economic disruption. The Biden Administration took over after an unusual and delayed transition. The apparatus of government was slow to transition....more
On December 3, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced the adoption of a final rule that fully implements the requirements of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“HFCAA”) enacted by the...more
While we wait for the coming FCPA enforcement storm, DOJ and the SEC have quietly continued to rack up and resolve several enforcement actions....more
12/8/2021
/ Adoption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Odebrecht ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Violations ,
White Collar Crimes