Subject to Inquiry

Subject to Inquiry

THE LATEST ON GOVERNMENT INQUIRIES AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

Government Investigations and White Collar Litigation Group

Tag Archives: FCPA

Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Fraud, Deception and False Claims

Series of DOJ Enforcement Policy Announcements Provides Promising Guidance

In a series of key policy announcements between November 2017 and May 2018, the Department of Justice has demonstrated an increasingly coherent perspective on how it will handle key aspects of white collar criminal enforcement. The policies largely reiterate a message federal prosecutors have delivered for years regarding what they want to see from companies… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption

Expansion of FCPA “Pilot Program” is Good for Companies, but Heed the Fine Print

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s Nov. 29 announcement that the Department of Justice FCPA “Pilot Program” will be permanently expanded is good news for companies that repeatedly faced the dilemma of whether or not to investigate and disclose FCPA issues discovered internally. However, companies should be careful to read the fine print of the policy… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends

SEC Expected to Expedite FCPA Investigations in Light of Kokesh

On November 9, 2017, Steven R. Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, delivered a keynote speech at a conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) in which he reflected on “the past, present, and future” of the SEC’s enforcement of the FCPA. After confirming the… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends

U.S. Supreme Court Indirectly Limits Important Component of DOJ’s FCPA Pilot Program

On June 5, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in Kokesh v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 16-529, that the SEC may not reach beyond the general five year statute of limitations period in order to obtain “ill-gotten gains,” a remedy known as disgorgement. Although the case did not involve a Foreign Corrupt Practices… Continue Reading
Compliance, Election and Political Law

Congress Votes to Disapprove SEC’s Resource Extraction Disclosure Rule

In previous posts, we discussed the potential impact of the SEC’s Resource Extraction Payment Disclosure (Rule 13q-1), including possible FCPA implications and the development of an appropriate compliance plan. After the election, much attention has been given by Congress to the so-called “midnight” agency rules that were adopted in the final months of the Obama… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends

Last Four Months of DOJ’s FCPA Pilot Program Could Provide Important Signals

Last April, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice launched a one-year pilot program in the Fraud Section’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) Unit.  The pilot program, self-described as “building” on the Yates memorandum, provides structured incentives for companies to self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate with respect to FCPA violations.  The remaining four months… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends

Identifying Enforcement Innovations to Prepare for the Post-Yates Enforcement Environment

During a recent webinar sponsored by the Washington Legal Foundation, we explored the impacts intensive individual-focused criminal enforcement can have on an industry, using the recent history of criminal enforcement of food safety laws as a case study.  The individual prosecutions we discussed in that context were based in large part on application of the… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Energy Enforcement

A Compliance Plan for the Extractive Industries Payment Disclosure Rule

In the prior post we described the SEC’s new Rule 13q-1 that took effect on Monday (September 26). In this post, we discuss steps covered companies should take to comply with the rule. To review: Rule 13q-1 requires issuers involved in the commercial development of oil, natural gas and minerals to disclose payments they, their… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Securities and Commodities

DOJ’s First Corporate Enforcement Action Under Pilot Program

In April 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement Plan and Guidance, which includes a one-year pilot program to incentivize individuals and companies to voluntarily self-disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act-related (FCPA) misconduct, cooperate with DOJ investigations and remediate controls and compliance programs.  Under the guidance, the DOJ may extend… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends

SEC Highlights Model Response to Evidence of FCPA Violations, Announces Non-Prosecution Agreements

On June 7, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced two non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) following a pair of investigations into alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  Both companies were ensnared by the FCPA through the conduct of their foreign subsidiaries.  The way the companies responded to the apparent violations provides a potential… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Fraud, Deception and False Claims

The Olympus Debacle: Why Internal Whistleblowing is a Good Thing for Compliance

The U.S. Department of Justice announced last week that Olympus Corporation of the Americas (OCA) agreed to pay $646 million to resolve three cases relating to its longstanding practice to bribe doctors and hospitals in the U.S. and abroad. The company entered deferred prosecution agreements (DPA) related to violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Securities and Commodities

Key Takeaways From This Year’s Early FCPA Enforcement Actions

February has been a big month for U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement. It started with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quietly resolving a string of relatively small matters.  Then, at the end of last week, the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a global resolution with VimpelCom in… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Anti-Money Laundering, Compliance

SEC and FinCEN Delivering One-Two Punch to Private Equity

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-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends

Anti-Corruption Enforcement in Brazil is in High Gear

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
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Securities and Commodities

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

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
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Securities and Commodities

Biomet FCPA Announcement Highlights Distributor-Related Risks

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
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance

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

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
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Fraud, Deception and False Claims

Civil fraud damages claims begin in the UK following a corruption prosecution by the SFO and the DOJ against Innospec and others

In a recent decision of Mr Justice Flaux in the case Jalal Bezee Mejel Al-Gaood & Partner v Innospec Limited and Others, the Claimants sued for damages which they claimed arose as a result of the Defendants having bribed the Iraqi Ministry of Oil (“MOO”) to purchase their chemical products, TEL.  The claim for damages… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption

SEC Comments Bring Commercial Bribery Clearly into FCPA Scope

While the potential reach of the UKBA has begun to broaden perceptions of what is necessary to ensure an anticorruption compliance program is appropriately inclusive and robust, recent comments by one senior U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official should remind us that the FCPA's accounting provisions may serve as a vehicle for penalizing companies for acts of commercial bribery if they result in maintenance of inaccurate books and records or otherwise undermine a company's system of internal controls.… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption

DPAs, NPAs and the Hybrid Corporate Monitor

In two recent FCPA-related settlements in the medical devices industry in February and March 2013, and in the manufacturing industry in October 2013, DOJ adopted a "hybrid" approach to monitoring. The DPAs entered in each settlement imposed a compliance monitorship whereby the company must retain an independent monitor for an 18-month period and then self-monitor and report its compliance with the agreement for the remaining 18 months of the DPA.… Continue Reading

We use cookies to enhance your experience of our website. By continuing to use this website, you agree to the use of these cookies. For more information and to learn how you can change your cookie settings, please see our policy.

Agree