It was a tumultuous year for privacy and cybersecurity, and further uncertainty is all but guaranteed. The key to navigating this volatility, as 2020 proved, is to develop and maintain a proactive, agile and holistic data...more
2/10/2021
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
NAIC ,
Popular
On January 1, 2021, the US Senate voted to override President Donald Trump’s veto of H.R. 6395, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA). As part of the NDAA, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020...more
1/8/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Congressional Override ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Banks ,
NDAA ,
Patriot Act ,
Presidential Veto ,
Shell Corporations ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Transparency ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
On December 18, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish new requirements for convertible virtual currency (CVC) and legal tender digital asset (LTDA)...more
The massive SolarWinds security breach, which affected not only the private sector, but federal, state and local governments, has caused some to question whether to share data with the government. On Friday, December 18, the...more
Congress is moving rapidly towards passing the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (Extenders Bill) as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. If enacted, the Extenders Bill would extend certain...more
Working from home since the onset of the pandemic, you check your social media on a work laptop, in violation of your company’s Acceptable Use Policy. Have you just committed a federal crime?...more
On October 8, 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Cyber-Digital Task Force issued an 83-page comprehensive “Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework,” (Framework), signaling the DOJ’s increased focus on prosecuting...more
Hopes that privacy regulators and litigants would grant a reprieve to businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic may prove ill-founded. On July 21, 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services announced its first...more
On August 14, 2020, the US Department of Justice (the DOJ) issued its first Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Opinion Procedure Release in six years, which relayed that it did not intend to pursue an enforcement action...more
8/25/2020
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Banks ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fees ,
Foreign Banks ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Multinationals ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Subsidiaries
If your company, like many other US insurance companies, has an EU or UK affiliate or parent, and you transfer personal data to the US, including employee data or even data of US persons, or if your trusted service providers...more
If you transfer personal data from the EU/UK to countries which lack a so-called “adequacy” determination, like the US or India, or if your trusted service providers do, the Schrems II European Court decision has seismic...more
8/6/2020
/ Binding Corporate Rules ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Data Protection Board (EDPB) ,
FISA ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personal Data ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Standard Contractual Clauses
On July 30, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released an advisory that signals its focus on cybercrime arising from vulnerabilities potentially created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Advisory on...more
If you transfer data from the EU to the US, or if your trusted service providers do, the Schrems II European Court decision1 has seismic significance - even if you do not rely on Privacy Shield.
On July 16, 2020, the Court...more
7/29/2020
/ Binding Corporate Rules ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Data Protection ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personal Data ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Standard Contractual Clauses
On June 1, 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released revised guidance for evaluating a company’s corporate compliance program. Since its creation in 2017, the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (Guidance) has...more
According to one blockchain and cryptocurrency security firm, this year is on pace to be the second highest in cryptocurrency theft, hacking and fraud, with January through May 2020 already seeing $1.36 billion stolen in...more
6/10/2020
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Hackers ,
Misappropriation ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
OCC ,
Theft
Corrupt? Yes. An abuse of power? Yes. But criminal? Not quite. On May 7, 2020, the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions of two former New Jersey public officials responsible for “Bridgegate,” a scheme that...more
5/14/2020
/ Appeals ,
Bridgegate ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Federal-Program Fraud ,
Governor Christie ,
Intent to Obtain Money or Property ,
Kelly v United States ,
Political Scandals ,
Public Officials ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Wire Fraud
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (CARES Act) came into effect as part of an ongoing effort to combat the financial crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act...more
The US Department of Justice has taken its first enforcement action against COVID-19 fraud, illustrating its previously stated commitment to prosecute “bad actors” attempting to exploit the global health crisis. On March 22,...more
As we all respond to COVID-19 (the coronavirus), we should keep an eye on the responsive measures being taken by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), and consider how those measures might impact companies and individuals...more
Many general counsels, as well as their privacy and cybersecurity teams, are understandably focused on their company’s coronavirus safety measures - and that is good news to the hackers.
Hackers thrive amidst confusion and...more
On February 26, 2020, the US District Court for the District of Connecticut reinforced the Second Circuit’s recent decision to limit prosecutors’ ability to pursue Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) charges against foreign...more
3/4/2020
/ Acquittals ,
Agency Relationship ,
Alstom ,
Bribery ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Indictments ,
Jurisdiction ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subsidiaries
In the scramble to come into compliance before the January 1, 2020 deadline, companies may have overlooked a key - and potentially costly - requirement in the California Attorney General draft regulations to the California...more
The Office of Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) has published its 2019 annual report (the Annual Report), which summarized the OCC’s strategic priorities for 2019. The Annual Report also highlighted the OCC’s key...more
1/20/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
CSBS ,
Examination Priorities ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Interpretive Opinions ,
Joint Statements ,
OCC ,
Risk Assessment ,
Shell Corporations ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Technology ,
Terrorism Funding
On December 13, 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a revised Export Control and Sanctions Enforcement Policy for Business Organizations (Revised EC/S Policy), clarifying its prior guidance on voluntary...more
1/14/2020
/ Amended Regulation ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Forfeiture ,
Remediation ,
Voluntary Disclosure
Understanding the boundaries of legal privilege in corporate internal investigations is critical. When counsel, either internal or external, misunderstands these boundaries, the result can be disastrous....more
12/20/2019
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Barnes and Noble ,
Confidential Communications ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Distributors ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Investigations ,
KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) ,
Legal Advice ,
Legal Advice Privilege ,
Outside Counsel ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Upjohn Warnings ,
Work-Product Doctrine