President Biden recently signed into law the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (“FEPA”), enabling federal prosecution of non-U.S. government officials who solicit or receive bribes.
FEPA complements the Foreign Corrupt...more
1/23/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Biden Administration ,
Bribery ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
FEPA ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Wire Fraud
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (the “Court”) issued a major ruling against the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on August 29, 2023, holding that the SEC acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease-and-desist order on August 28, 2023, charging Impact Theory, LLC (“Impact Theory”) with conducting an unregistered offering of crypto asset securities in violation...more
9/8/2023
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens
In the latest decision evaluating the application of federal securities laws to the digital asset context, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) ruled in favor...more
8/23/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Investment Contract ,
Liquidity ,
New York ,
Profits ,
Registration Requirement ,
Ripple ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Token Sales
On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court released a unanimous decision in U.S. ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., No. 21-1326; U.S. ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc., No. 22-111, clarifying the False Claims Act’s scienter...more
The Supreme Court yet again unanimously overturned bribery convictions based on prosecutorial overreach via the honest services wire fraud statute. The steady stream of reversals fundamentally challenges the DOJ’s approach in...more
The First Circuit applied a narrow definition of “bribery” for honest services fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1346. Payments made to the purportedly harmed party in the alleged bribery scheme—here, the universities—cannot...more
The Supreme Court will provide clarification on the False Claims Act’s scienter standard – namely, the role that a defendant’s subjective intent plays in the face of ambiguous regulatory guidance.
During oral argument on...more
Last week, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a Compensation Incentives and Clawbacks Pilot Program (the “Pilot Program” or “Program”) that will apply to all corporate criminal resolutions with the Criminal Division...more
This week the Department of Justice rolled out its new United States Attorney’s Offices’ Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy.
The Policy, which is effective immediately, details when a company will be considered to have made...more
Mortgage lenders of all sizes are paying closer attention to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues as they face inquiries from their investors and customers as well as increased scrutiny from regulators. Given...more
This week the DOJ published revisions to its Corporate Enforcement Policy designed to even further encourage companies to make voluntary self-disclosures of wrongdoing within their ranks, cooperate with investigations, and...more
1/20/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Fraud ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ,
Investigations ,
Remedial Actions ,
Securities Fraud ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday in United States v. Banks1 that under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, “loss” means only actual loss and not intended loss.
Although the term “loss” is not explicitly...more
Late last week, the Department of Justice’s Deputy Attorney General, Lisa Monaco, announced several new guidelines for prosecutors to use when determining how to assess and treat corporate offenders....more
9/21/2022
/ Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Individual Accountability ,
New Guidance ,
Prior Wrongful Acts ,
Recidivism ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Transparency
Key Takeaways - This article explores: How recent sexual harassment and discrimination allegations against Activision Blizzard, Inc. show the great legal and reputational costs that can come from failing to deal with...more
Joe Biden has now been sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America. Within a few hours of taking office, on January 20, 2021, the Biden Administration rescinded former President Trump’s Executive Order...more
1/26/2021
/ Bias ,
Biden Administration ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Race Relations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title VII
Key Takeaways
- Slave, forced, and child labor is a modern-day reality impacting some 40 million people throughout the world, by some estimates. Such practices are—and have always been—repugnant, and certainly have no place...more
8/14/2020
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Alien Tort Statute ,
Anti-Slavery Commissioner ,
Anti-Trafficking Statutes ,
Child Labor ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Criminal Code ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Forced Labor ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Human Rights ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
Multinationals ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Trafficking ,
Slavery ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariff Act of 1930 ,
Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act ,
Transparency in Supply Chains Act ,
UK
Speaking at a conference in Maryland on November 29, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a revised Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”). This policy builds on the...more
A federal judge in California recently sentenced a former employee of KTXL Fox40, a Tribune Company-owned television station, to two years in prison for three felony convictions relating to his assistance to the “hacktivist”...more