Subject to Inquiry

Subject to Inquiry

THE LATEST ON GOVERNMENT INQUIRIES AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

Government Investigations and White Collar Litigation Group

Alex J. Brackett

Photo of Alex J. Brackett Alex is a member of the Government Investigations and White Collar Litigation department, and co-head of McGuireWoods' Strategic Risk and Compliance team. His practice focuses primarily on advising and supporting corporate and individual clients in the areas of white collar criminal defense and internal investigations.

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Overreacting to Risk Can Ruin a Compliance Program

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance
In-house counsel, compliance officers and the external counsel who support them are trained to be risk averse when it comes to anti-corruption and other types of compliance, and with good reason. The enforcement stakes in the United States and beyond are increasingly high, as the bar for attracting regulatory and law enforcement scrutiny seems to… Continue Reading

SEC ‘Broken Windows’ Enforcement Policy Is Showing FCPA Results

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Securities and Commodities
In October 2013, SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White announced a broken windows enforcement policy to “pursue even the smallest infractions” of U.S. securities laws, including the FCPA, as a means of deterrence. As White stated in announcing the policy, “minor violations” that a company fails to address “feed bigger ones, and, perhaps more importantly, can… Continue Reading

SEC and FinCEN Delivering One-Two Punch to Private Equity

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Anti-Money Laundering, Compliance
Starting in January, it was widely reported that the SEC had upped its FCPA scrutiny of private equity funds required to register as investment advisers under Dodd-Frank, with requests for information being issued to a number of funds in connection with their courting of sovereign wealth funds. For many newly-regulated funds, this was likely viewed… Continue Reading

Anti-Corruption Enforcement in Brazil is in High Gear

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends
Headlines of Brazil’s push to fight corruption are everywhere. The Petrobras scandal involves contracts worth billions of dollars, and prosecutors have uncovered a U.S. connection. The public is outraged and has called for President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, as the speaker of Brazil’s lower house of Congress and a former president of Brazil face recently filed… Continue Reading

China’s Focus on Combatting Commercial Bribery Is a Wake-Up Call

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Securities and Commodities
Earlier this month, six former employees of Tencent Holdings (Tencent), including Liu Chunning, a now high-level executive of Alibaba Group, were detained by Chinese authorities as part of a bribery investigation relating to payments made by online video content providers to employees of Tencent, including Liu. In addition to showcasing the continued fight against graft… Continue Reading

Still Certain about Uncertainty − Waiting on the Details in the New Iran Nuclear Deal

By Patrick Rowan, Alex J. Brackett and Yves Melin on Sanctions, Trade Embargo, and Export Controls
On July 14, the White House and the U.S. State Department announced that they had reached an agreement with their diplomatic partners and Iran to curtail Iran’s further development of its nuclear program. In exchange for assurances that should limit Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, the U.S. and its negotiating partners − the… Continue Reading

Biomet FCPA Announcement Highlights Distributor-Related Risks

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Securities and Commodities
Last week, Biomet Inc. announced in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that instead of its 2012 deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) expiring this week, the company would be monitored under it for an additional year.… Continue Reading

The FCPA Implications of China’s Plan to Consolidate State-Owned Enterprises

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance
China’s recently announced plan to restructure and consolidate its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) focuses on bolstering the private sector of its economy and creating economies of scale to allow Chinese companies to better compete internationally. It also may implicate companies’ efforts to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), in positive and negative ways.… Continue Reading

Guilty Plea in DOJ’s First Criminal Prosecution for Campaign Finance Coordination

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Alex J. Brackett on Election and Political Law
The news media has already engaged in rampant speculation regarding the potential candidates from both parties in the 2016 presidential election. Inextricably tied to the talk of political campaigns is the public discussion about campaign finance, particularly with reference to political action committees (PACs). In the wake of the Citizens United decision, the public has… Continue Reading

Revisiting the Conflicts Minerals Rule

By Alex J. Brackett on Compliance, Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Securities and Commodities
Companies listed in the U.S. are required by Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act to report whether they manufacture products that incorporate so called conflict minerals (defined as gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighboring countries). McGuireWoods partners Yves Melin and Alex Brackett, along with Estelle Levin –… Continue Reading

Unpacking OFAC’s Revised Guidance Regarding its “50 Percent Rule”

By Alex J. Brackett, Jeffrey M. Hanna and Patrick Rowan on Compliance, Financial Institution Regulation
On August 14, 2014, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published revised guidance regarding entities owned by persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to an Executive Order or regulations administered by OFAC (blocked persons). Fed. Reg. 47726 (August 14, 2014). Under the revised guidance, any entity that… Continue Reading

Diageo FCPA Settlement Waves Cautionary Flag

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
The July 27, 2011 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) settlement between UK-based liquor giant Diageo plc and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) was fairly modest by FCPA standards.  The case was resolved through an administrative Cease-and-Desist Order requiring just $16.37 million in penalties, disgorgement and prejudgment interest, no retention of an independent monitor… Continue Reading

DOJ Secures First Ever Conviction of a Corporation under FCPA

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, California-based Lindsey Manufacturing Company (Lindsey) became the first corporate entity to be convicted of a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) at trial.  A federal jury in Los Angeles returned convictions against the company, two of its employees and a Mexican sales agent.  The defendants had been indicted… Continue Reading

UK Bribery Act Implementation Delayed, Enforcement Funding Questioned

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
Implementation of the UK Bribery Act has been pushed back at least one month from its previous effective date of April 2011, as UK businesses maintain pressure on government officials to clarify its provisions and soften its impact on their overseas activities.  The announcement, made by Justice Secretary Ken Clarke earlier this week, comes just… Continue Reading

UK Bribery Act to be Reviewed Amid Business Concerns

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
On January 13, 2011, UK government officials confirmed that the soon-to-be-implemented UK Bribery Act is set to be assessed as part of a government Growth Review designed to improve conditions for private sector growth, including easing regulatory burdens.  Press reports indicate that the Growth Review, being undertaken jointly by HM Treasury and the Department for… Continue Reading

Could the Courts Infer a Private Right of Action under the FCPA?

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
Civil cases based on violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) have proliferated in recent years.  These cases have presented in a number of variations including lawsuits brought by foreign governments against FCPA violators, as shareholder derivative actions, and by business partners and competitors alleged to have been harmed by the underlying bribery.  Private… Continue Reading

Budget Impasse Delays Opening of Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Office

By Alex J. Brackett on Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Securities and Commodities
On December 3, 2010, the SEC announced that it is delaying plans to set up several offices created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, including its much-anticipated whistleblower office.  The announcement came amid a budget standoff in Congress that has left the SEC’s funding frozen at 2010 levels, along… Continue Reading

UK Examining Potential for Debarment Following Bribery Act Offenses

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
UK regulators are reviewing the interplay of EU procurement directives and the recently-enacted Bribery Act 2010 in an effort to reduce the risk of debarment from public contracts following certain corporate violations of the new law.  Under EU procurement rules, companies convicted of an offense concerning professional misconduct, which would include bribery, are banned from… Continue Reading

What the Panalpina Settlement Really Teaches Us about FCPA Risks

By Alex J. Brackett on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
Last week’s settlement of the long-running Panalpina FCPA investigation is garnering significant attention for the number of entities simultaneously resolving related FCPA investigations and for the size of the fines and disgorgement involved.  And while a total of $236 million in civil and criminal fines and disgorgement across seven companies is noteworthy, it is not… Continue Reading

Will Dodd-Frank Create a Whistleblower Windfall?

By Alex J. Brackett on Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Securities and Commodities
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which President Obama signed into law on July 21, 2010, has been heralded as offering several significant changes in Wall Street regulation.  However, one of its least publicized provisions—the so-called whistleblower “bounty”—may prove to be among its most impactful. Companies both large and small… Continue Reading

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