Control of a Set-aside Entity
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 157-Training of Third Parties Under the FCPA
Polsinelli Podcast - An International Trade Issue That May Impact Your Business
Protecting IP Through Employment Law
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 91, Internal Controls for Third Parties Under the FCPA, Part II
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 63-Managing the Third Party Relationship Under the FCPA, Part I
The Albemarle FCPA enforcement action was announced at a good time. This year has been a slow year for DOJ’s FCPA enforcement program, although there are several months before the end of the year. The SEC, on the other hand,...more
Albemarle’s bribery schemes look and sound like text-book examples of third-party agents being paid high commissions as a way to funnel bribery payments to foreign officials at state-owned oil refineries. However, as usual,...more
In today’s blog post, I want to look at some of the more unusual bribery schemes from Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions in 2019. Some of these schemes were not unusual but they were accomplished with...more
On December 6, 2019, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson or the Company), resolved long-running investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the...more
Last week the Justice Department (DOJ) announced a resolution of the long standing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action involving Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson), a multinational networking and...more
Ericsson’s FCPA settlement is in the books (not the books and records). But it casts a significant shadow across the FCPA landscape. A pervasive and systemic culture of bribery is defined to reflect senior executive...more
This week I have been considering the guilty pleas of the former Unaoil Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Cyrus Ahsani, and former Chief Operations Officer (COO), Saman Ahsani, as was laid out in their Information. Most...more
The Walmart case, from a big picture standpoint, represents a serious warning to all global companies committed to rapid international growth. In the absence of a significant and sustained commitment to compliance, rapid...more
The long-awaited Walmart Inc. (Walmart) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action was announced last week. This massive case came in with multiple documents, a long list of instances of bribery and corruption, a...more
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) world is littered with cases involving freight forwarders, brokers and agents in the shipping and express delivery arena....more
The SEC’s FCPA Unit had a good week last week – they announced a second FCPA settlement along with the Sanofi case. The latest to fall was United Technologies that agreed to pay $13.9 million for bribes paid by its elevator...more
The European concern Airbus has been in the news recently for corruption issues. According to an article in the Financial Times (FT), entitled “Airbus sued by middlemen fired following fraud inquiry”, its annual report lists...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Fraud Section recently published its "Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs" that lists 1) the topics it explores and 2) the questions it asks when it assesses the effectiveness of a...more
Today, I continue my exploration of Level III, deep dive due diligence, by discussing how this should be considered for third parties. I am joined this week by Candice Tal, founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of...more
2016 was a banner year for global anti-corruption enforcement: the U.S. government set records in terms of both the number of FCPA actions brought and the total dollar amount of related fines. Meanwhile, governments from...more
On February 8, 2017, the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") Fraud Section published a blueprint for assessing corporate compliance efforts, titled "Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs" ("Guidance"). It...more
Third party risk management is easily one of the most challenging risks for compliance officers. With all the attention and hype surrounding third party risk, companies have marshaled attention and resources to mitigate the...more
While reading the Embraer settlement documents, I read over the facts implicating a senior legal executive and his/her involvement in the Embraer bribery scheme. Truthfully, I had a slight gasp as I read about a fellow lawyer...more
Wyatt Earp died this week. Not the original Wyatt Earp who died in 1929 but the Wyatt Earp of my lifetime, who was actor Hugh O’Brian. O’Brien portrayed Earp in the long running television series Wyatt Earp which ran in the...more
There are five steps in the life cycle of third party management. - Business Justification and Business Sponsor; - Questionnaire to Third Party; - Due Diligence on Third Party; - Compliance...more
The cornerstone of a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance program is its written protocols. This includes a Code of Conduct, policies and procedures. In the FCPA Guidance, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and...more
In response to aggressive FCPA enforcement and recurring problems with third parties, companies have spent substantial resources and time to design and implement comprehensive ethics and compliance programs. A key part of...more
I continue my exploration of the use of data analytics in a best practices compliance program. Today we look at how data analytics can be used to help detect or prevent bribery and corruption where the primary sales force...more
As our previous posts illustrate, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) can carry a hefty cost. Two issues are commonly the impetus for FCPA violations and, practically speaking, pose significant FCPA...more
Believe it or not, life principles can be used in compliance, especially in due diligence. I always tell my kids that life has a way of setting priorities. As you get older, life becomes simpler and your priorities become...more