On August 1, 2024, the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division announced the details of its much-anticipated Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. This program is designed to incentivize...more
On March 18, 2024, Michael S. Regan, Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan issued a letter urging state governors to take immediate action to address the increasing...more
On April 15, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released an internal memo introducing a Pilot Program on Voluntary Disclosures intended to encourage individuals – from executives to lower-level employees – to report...more
Last month, Congressman Richard Hudson (R-NC), along with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY), introduced legislation—the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act —banning the use of a Merchant...more
During a March 7, 2024, speech at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) is launching a...more
In December 2022, the U.S. Congress included the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act as part of the Omnibus Budget for that year. The Act includes drastic new measures to expand enforcement against those...more
In April 2022, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives finalized a rule designed to address so-called “Ghost Guns” or “Personally Manufactured Firearms” (PMFs). PMFs are unfinished firearm parts, frequently...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) is statutorily entitled to impose recordkeeping and reporting requirements on domestic financial institutions or nonfinancial trades or business groups when it deems such...more
The Supreme Court issued a major decision at the end of June when it outlawed affirmative action for colleges in Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College (“SFFA”). The Court based its decision...more
7/26/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Attorney General ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Quotas ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VI
The cryptocurrency industry has been under regular fire from regulators this year. The latest companies to face the wrath of the federal government are also some of the largest. Earlier this month the Securities and Exchange...more
In late February, the United States Attorneys for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York announced a new “Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy” (VSD Policy), effective immediately, that applies to all United States...more
On December 23, 2022, Congress included the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act as part of the Omnibus Budget President Biden has now signed into law. The Act includes drastic new measures to expand...more
Earlier this month, DOJ announced additional revisions to the Department’s existing policies and practices governing corporate criminal enforcement. Each of these revisions will soon find its way into DOJ’s Justice Manual....more
A product manager at OpenSea, a $13 billion online marketplace for non-fungible-tokens (“NFTs”), was indicted in the first-ever “insider-trading” action brought against a person using blockchain-based assets to allegedly...more
6/21/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Indictments ,
Insider Trading ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Wire Fraud
In late May, a court in the Pacific island nation of Fiji upheld on appeal the detention of the 348-foot Amadea, reportedly owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, whose wealth largely derives from his 76% stake in...more
In 2020, the European Union proposed a set of regulations known as the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation – MiCA for short – as part of its efforts to “make Europe fit for the digital age and to build a future-ready economy...more
Few investors made it through 2021 and 2022 without learning of, discussing, or perhaps purchasing, cryptocurrency or other blockchain assets, and the federal agency responsible for regulating the securities industry has...more
5/4/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Investment ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Token Sales
In September 2020, Patrick Mincey, Zachary Bolitho and I presented on the changes and trends we expected to see in SEC and DOJ enforcement of white-collar cases. We cautioned our clients that the government was going to...more
The South Carolina Supreme Court recently issued a landmark decision, Keene v. CAN Holdings, LLC (August 11, 2021), narrowing the statutory employee doctrine and increasing the likelihood companies can be held liable in tort...more