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FCPA Compliance Report

Tom Fox has practiced law in Houston for 30 years and now brings you the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report. Learn the latest in anti-corruption and anti-bribery compliance and international transaction issues, as well as business solutions to compliance problems.
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Now displaying: Category: Compliance Commentary
Nov 30, 2018

As Tom and Jay prepare for the December holiday season, they consider the DOJ/SEC’s strong affirmation that aggressive FCPA enforcement is here to stay, changes to the Yates Memo/plea for increased cooperation and some of the week’s other top compliance and ethics stories.

  1. DOJ/SEC reaffirm importance of FCPA prosecutions. Christopher Cole reports on regulators remarks at ACI National FCPA Conference in Law360. Going in another direction, Deputy Attorney General John Cronan discusses the importance of the public private partnership in fighting bribery and corruption. Matt Kelly reports on his speech by on Radical Compliance. For full text of speech, see here. Finally Rod Rosenstein announces cut backs to the Yates Memo in a speech.
  2. Facebook woes continue as a cache of its internal documents end up in Britain’s House of Commons immediately before a hearing. Adam Satariano reports in the New York Times. The hearing is held with an empty chair for Mark Zuckerburg who was too busy to drop by. Tom and Jonathan Armstrong have their first emergency podcast on Life with GDPR to explain it all.
  3. How do you establish pace and scope in a SEC investigation? Dan Portnov explains in Grand Jury Target.
  4. FIFA Judge Balks At $116M Restitution Bids In Bribery Case. Stewart Bishop reports in Law360.
  5. Russia’s largest telecom company, MTS reserves $840MM for FCPA resolution. Harry Cassin reports in the FCPA Blog.
  6. Former Venezuelan National Treasurer, Alejandro Andrade sentenced to 10 years in prison for money laundering in accepting over $1bn in bribes. Harry Cassin reports in the FCPA Blog. Sam Rubenfeld reports in the WSJ Risk & Compliance Journal.
  7. What is the role of the human element in internal controls. Tom Gorman explores this interesting issue in SEC Actions.
  8. 11 Latin American laws firms join forces to create a template for best practices in an anti-corruption investigation. Melissa Van Brunnersum reports.
  9. In Houston over the next couple of weeks? Tom will be speaking at the December meeting of the ACFE Houston Chapter on December 11 and leading meetings of the Houston Compliance Roundtable, the midtown group meets at Rowan Drilling on December 12 and the Woodlands group meets on December 13 at Nexio. For information on the Roundtables, contact Tom. To register for the ACFE Houston Chapter event, click here.
  10. Interested in learning some compliance lessons through travel and history? Check out Tom’s 5-part podcast series of compliance lessons from Venice. Part I-Doing Compliance the Old-Fashioned Way; Part II-the Arsenale and Incentives in Compliance; Part III-Selfie Sticks and Risk Assessments; Part IV-the Venetian Gondolier; Part V-Into the Lion’s Mouth. All podcasts are also available on iTunes, JDSupra, YouTubeand Libsyn.

For more information on how an independent monitor can help improve your company’s ethics and compliance program, visit our sponsor Affiliated Monitors at www.affiliatedmonitors.com.

Nov 30, 2018

NOVEMBER 30, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Deutsche Bank Offices raided in AML investigation. (New York Times)
  • Danske Bank hit with criminal charges.(The Local Denmark)
  • Head of Tenaris Drilling indicted for bribery and corruption in Argentina. (Reuters)
  • South African Parliament accuses McKinsey of possible “criminal wrongdoing” in its work for Gupta-family controlled entity Trillion. (Financial Times)
Nov 29, 2018

NOVEMBER 29, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Chi Ping Patrick Ho corruption trial begins. (Courthouse News)
  • Too late for a last minute Christmas present as time expires to bid on the Jho Low $250MM yacht.(Bloomberg)
  • Senate is expected to confirm Kathy Kraninger as head of CFPB. (MarketWatch)
  • Did Les Moonves try to bury an allegation of sexual assault? (NYT)
Nov 28, 2018

Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive into the recent Vantage Drilling FCPA enforcement action. It is a highly unusual enforcement action with some very different facts from the standard FCPA case. It provides some new lessons learned for the compliance professional (and some old ones as well). 

 

Some of the highlights from this podcast are:

  1. What were the unusual facts of this matter?
  2. What is the role of a Board member who is also a supplier to a company?
  3. What were the key lessons learned for the compliance practitioner?

 

For more see Matt’s blog post SEC Dings Vantage  $5M on FCPA Issues and see Tom’s blog post, The Vantage Drilling FCPA Enforcement Action.

Nov 28, 2018

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • UK Parliament to release Facebook documents. (New York Times)
  • Former Venezuelan National Treasury Minister sentenced to 10 for corruption.(DOJ Press Release)
  • SFO obtains one guilty verdicts, 3 guilty pleas and sustains 3 acquittals in FH Bertling corruption trial? (Wall Street Journal)
  • NPR announces its best reads for 2018. How many have you read? (NPR)
Nov 27, 2018

NOVEMBER 27, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News: 

  • UK Parliament gets confidential Facebook documents. How weird is that? (TheVerge)
  • Lavish spending can get CEOs into trouble.(Wall Street Journal)
  • 22 warrants for arrests issued in Brazil related to corruption at Petrobras? (Associated Press)
  • Was Shell/ENI production deal in Nigeria facilitated by corruption? (BBC)
Nov 26, 2018

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Will corrupt President by brought down by investigations? (in Czech Republic). (New York Times)
  • How is prosecuting war criminals inform compliance? Have lunch with the FT and Louise Arbour to find out.(Financial Times)
  • How much should companies use AI into employee background investigations? (Washington Post)
  • Want to accomplish something in your meetings? Try planning. (Houston Business Journal)
Nov 23, 2018

As Tom and Jay move from eating way to much to watching some great college football on this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, they look at some of the week’s top compliance and ethics stories. 

  1. Vantage Drilling settles FCPA enforcement action. Sam Rubenfeld reports in the Wall Street Journal Risk & Compliance Journal. Harry Cassin reports in the FCPA Blog. Matt Kelly takes a swing in Radical Compliance.
  2. Facebook admits it hired oppo research firm to dig up dirt on opponents. What’t next?  Jack Nicas reports in the New York Times. Facebook give a mea culpaafter denying everything in a Press Release.
  3. What is an ‘ethical bricolage’? John Rausch explains in his Dipping Through Geomotries
  4. French bank Société Générale SA agreed to pay $1.34 billion in penalties for sanctions violations but claims its compliance program is now first rate. Dick Cassin reports on the former in the FCPA Blog. Sam Rubenfeld and Mengqi Sun report on the latter in WSJ Risk & Compliance Journal.
  5. Think things can't get worse for Goldman, think again. Emily Flitter, Matthew Goldstein and Kate Kelly report in the New York Times.
  6. What is the intersection of behavioral sciences and compliance? Mike Volkov considers in Corruption, Crime and Compliance.
  7. Should the President or anyone else answer written questions from prosecutors? Sara Kropf weighs in on Grand Jury Target.
  8. Danske Bank whistleblower reveals money-laundering ties to Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and JPMorgan. Kayleena Makortoff reports in The Guardian.
  9. SEC Whistleblower program has record year. So why does SEC want to cut back on the program. Mengi Sun reports in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  10. Nissan Chairman arrested, removed from Board and fired. All in 48 hours. Motoko Rich reports in the New York Times.

For more information on how an independent monitor can help improve your company’s ethics and compliance program, visit our sponsor Affiliated Monitors at www.affiliatedmonitors.com.

Nov 21, 2018

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Vantage Drilling settles FCPA charges. (SEC Press Release)
  • Phishing for executives and the SEC.(FCPA Blog)
  • FT Editorial Board warns against high-flying CEO hubris (again). (Financial Times)
  • Danske Bank whistleblower reveals money-laundering ties to Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and JPMorgan. (The Guardian)
Nov 20, 2018

NOVEMBER 20, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

Nov 16, 2018

As Tom and Jay mourn the death of cultural icon Stan Lee, they consider that story and look at some of the week’s top compliance and ethics stories. 

  1. Why Goldman’s ‘tick the box’ compliance program not good enough. FT editorial board. sub req’d What are 4 questions the DOJ is likely to ask and what are 4 areas of inquiry under the FCPA Corporate Enforcement. Tom explores in Part Iand Part II. Mike Volkov asks ‘what about respondent superior’?; in his blog Crime, Corruption and Compliance. Richard Bistrong explained what happened during his guilty plea hearing for his FCPA criminal action, in the FCPA Blog.  
  2. Richard Bistrong explained what happened during his guilty plea hearing for his FCPA criminal action, in the FCPA Blog.
  3. How can ISO 37001 be fixed? Joe Murphy lists 44 ways on the FCPA Blog.
  4. MoneyGram spanked again as it’s DPA is extended. John Rausch reports in his Dipping Through Geomotries
  5. Tesla names new Board Chair. Will she be able to rein in Elon Musk? Tom Krisher reports in the Washington Post.
  6. Has your company assess the impact of Brexit? If not, the SEC says you should do so. Tatyana Shumsky reports in the WSJ Risk & Compliance Journal.
  7. Why 2019 may well be a challenging year for internal audit. Rafael Go and Leslee McKnight write in Corporate Compliance Insights.
  8. Are companies meeting their human rights requirements? Sam Rubenfeld explores in WSJ Risk & Compliance Journal.
  9. What is the business impact of bribery and corruption in Venezuela? Chevron weighs pulling out. Kejal Vyas and Bradley Olson report in the WSJ.
  10. Chuck Duross says cutting back on compliance programs would be both short-sighted and foolish. Adam Dobrik reports in GIR.
  11. How has GDPR impacted M&A deals? Nina Trentmann reports in the WSJ Risk & Compliance Journal.
  12. In a sponsored podcast, Tom visits with Vin DiCianni and Eric Feldman of Affiliated Monitors on the impact of culture, compliance and monitoring for non-US companies in countries outside the US. Part I-Introduction, Part II-International Enforcement Trends, Part III-Spain, Part IV-Development of Monnitoring in International Enforcement and Part V-International Challenges for Monitors. 

For more information on how an independent monitor can help improve your company’s ethics and compliance program, visit our sponsor Affiliated Monitors at www.affiliatedmonitors.com.

Nov 16, 2018

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

Nov 15, 2018

Welcome to the only roundtable podcast in compliance. This week’s episode was is dedicated to considering one article which recently appeared in the New York Times, entitled, “Trump Administration Spares Corporate Wrongdoers Billions in Penalties”. Each panelist considers the piece and its underlying principals from their own perspective. 

  1. Jonathan Armstrong considers whether or not the US is losing its role as the global anti-corruption policeman? If it is, will another country step up to take its place? Jonathan rants about UK politicians meddling in UK criminal prosecutions and criminal procedure.
  1. Mike Volkov considers what, if anything does the article tell you about DOJ enforcement priorities? How do priorities change from administration to administration? What does that mean for line and career prosecutors? Mike gives a shout out to US voters who turned out in record numbers in the recent mid-term elections.
  1. Matt Kelly considers the enforcement angle from the SEC or other regulatory bodies notably the Federal Reserve and Office of the Currency. Matt give a very large tip of the hat in his shout out to shareholder activist extraordinaire Evelyn Davis who recently passed away.
  1. Jay Rosen who works as a vendor during in the ethics and compliance space, considers the article from his perspective. He explores such questions as are companies spending less because of enforcement or is corporate compliance is as robust as ever? Jay has a heavy heart this week in remembering the victims of the massacres at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg and the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, CA.

For additional reading see the following from Cordery Compliance:

http://www.corderycompliance.com/client-alert-rolls-royce-case-sends-a-strong-signal/

http://www.corderycompliance.com/new-sfo-director-assumes-office-2-2/

http://www.corderycompliance.com/brexit-and-compliance-2/

http://www.corderycompliance.com/client-alert-skansen-linked-executives-jailed-for-bribery-in-uk/

The members of the Everything Compliance panelist are:

  • Jay Rosen– Jay is Vice President, Business Development Corporate Monitoring at Affiliated Monitors. Rosen can be reached at JRosen@affiliatedmonitors.com
  • Mike Volkov– One of the top FCPA commentators and practitioners around and the Chief Executive Officer of The Volkov Law Group, LLC. Volkov can be reached at mvolkov@volkovlawgroup.com.
  • Matt Kelly– Founder and CEO of Radical Compliance. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@radicalcompliance.com
  • Jonathan Armstrong– Rounding out the panel is our UK colleague, who is an experienced lawyer with Cordery in London. Armstrong can be reached at armstrong@corderycompliance.com

The host and producer (and sometime panelist) of Everything Compliance is Tom Fox the Compliance Evangelist. Everything Compliance is a part of the Compliance Podcast Network.

Nov 15, 2018

NOVEMBER 15, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • How has GDPR impacted M&A deals? (Wall Street Journal)
  • AstroBall nominated as one of the best business books of 2018.(Amazon)
  • What is a public spanking? Goldman Sachs finds out as the FT Editorial Page calls out its check the box compliance function. (Financial Times)
  • Why cutting back on compliance programs would be short-sighted and foolish. (GIR)
Nov 12, 2018

In this podcast series, I visit with Vin DiCianni, founder and President of Affiliated Monitors, Inc. (AMI) and Eric Feldman, Senior Vice President of AMI. We consider the global view of ethics, compliance and corporate culture of non-US companies, outside the US; in both their home countries and in other countries. AMI does independent integrity monitoring in multiple countries outside the US and for many non-US organizations. This work has given them a unique vantage point to observe developments. In this Part III, I discuss trends in ethics and compliance programs in Spain with DiCianni.

For more information on how an independent monitor can help improve your company’s ethics and compliance program, visit our sponsor Affiliated Monitors at www.affiliatedmonitors.com.

Nov 12, 2018

The FCPA Compliance Report is the longest running podcast in compliance. This summer, the Compliance Podcast Network posted its 1000thpodcast in its catalogue. The FCPA Compliance Report is the most senior podcast in this network. To commemorate this event, I am featuring a five-year retrospective for the topic of each podcast. In each podcast, I consider where we were, where we are now and where we will be going in the next five years.

In the Episode, I visit with podcast favorite Mike Volkov and we consider FCPA enforcement and compliance programs over the past five years and where it may be going in the future. In this podcast we discuss:

  1. How the 2012 FCPA Guidance was one of the seminal releases of information by prosecutors and regulators.
  2. The Ten Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance provide all compliance practitioners with information needed to design, create and implement a best practices compliance program.
  3. The DOJ and SEC have continually listened to the concerns of businesses and compliance practitioners over the past 5 years in formulating enforcement policies.
  4. The DOJ telegraphed its enforcement priorities through its enforcement actions.
  5. The 2017 FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy was the culmination of this journey.
  6. Compliance professionals should use data to demonstrate effectiveness and continuous improvement of their compliance programs.
Nov 12, 2018

NOVEMBER 12, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • What happens when an industry has too much hubris? (Bloomberg)
  • Will the new Chairman help anything at Tesla?(Wall Street Journal)
  • Still smoky for college basketball after 1stcorruption trial. (StarTribune)
  • More (very) bad news for Goldman Sachs. (Wall Street Journal)
Nov 9, 2018

Goldman Sachs has a very bad week, most particularly around its role in the 1MDB scandal. Tom and Jay consider that story and look at some of the week’s top compliance and ethics stories. 

  1. Malaysian officials call for Goldman Sachs to return the $600MM profits it made on the 1MDB bond sales. Stephania Palma reports in the Financial Times. (sub req’d) Goldman Sachs reserves up to $1.8bn to pay for the scandal. Sam Rubenfeld reports in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal. Tom has a 3-part series on the matter. Part I-background facts in the guilty plea and indictments, Part 2-the bribery and money-laundering schemes and Part 3-what does it all mean for compliance professionals.
  2. New academic reports shows better whistleblower programs save companies money. For the full report, click here. Matt Kelly has two posts on Radical Compliance (here and here). Tom blogs about it on the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog.
  3. What happens when a compliance professional is not up for the job. David Crow looks at a FCA investigation in the Financial Times. (Sub req’d)
  4. Who is Responsible for Ethics? Marsha Ershagahi Hames explains in LRN’s Blog.
  5. Did the Hoskinsdecision change any requirements around due diligence on intermediaries or other third-parties? Eric Lochner opines in the FCPA Blog.
  6. Does the recent Stryker FCPA enforcement action change the requirements for per diem expense reimbursements? Kyden Creekpaum writes in the FCPA Blog.
  7. Does a Golden Passport portend corruption? Dick Cassin explores in the FCPA Blog.
  8. Magistrate recommends PdVSA suit alleging recoupment of bribery proceeds by tossed. Carol Balado reports in com. (sub req’d)
  9. Is the (SEC) glass half-full or half-empty? In half-full article, FCPA Unit head says more industries about to be sweep. Ryan Barber in com (sub req’d) In the half-empty department, Co-Director of Enforcment, Stephanie Akavian says its impact, not numbers that matter (meaning the numbers are way down). Francine McKenna reports in MarketWatch.
  10. Ever wonder how a SEC investigation begins? Dan Portnov explains it all on Grand Jury Target.
  11. Looking for the top training on how to operationalize your compliance program? Tom announces a new Compliance Master Class to be held in NYC November 12 & 13, hosted by Jonathan Marks and Baker Tilly. For agenda, more information and registration details click here.
  12. Tom premiers new podcast offering, the Daily Compliance News on the Compliance Podcast Network. Have cup of coffee and catch up on the day’s top compliance stories with the Compliance Evangelist. 

For more information on how an independent monitor can help improve your company’s ethics and compliance program, visit our sponsor Affiliated Monitors at www.affiliatedmonitors.com.

Nov 8, 2018

NOVEMBER 8, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Malaysian officials call for Goldman Sachs to return the $600MM profits it made on the 1MDB bond sales. (Financial Times)
  • Did the Hoskins decision change due diligence requirements?(FCPA Blog)
  • How will the rest of the world deal with new US sanctions on Iran? (Wall Street Journal)
  • Compliance executive under investigation from FCA for lack of expertise. (Financial Times)
Nov 7, 2018

Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive into the recently announced reorganization of the Michigan State University compliance function, rolling it into the newly created Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance.  

Some of the highlights from this podcast are:

  1. Does MSU interim President John Engler get compliance?
  2. What is the role of a CCO at a major state university?
  3. Does rolling compliance under internal audit demonstrate a adherence to or lack of commitment to compliance?

 

For more see Matt’s blog post, Michigan State Reorgs Compliance Again

Nov 7, 2018

NOVEMBER 7, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Changes at the top of Danske bank as the Chairman of the Board resigns. (Financial Times)
  • Strip clubs off the approved employee expense reimbursement at Under Armor.(Wall Street Journal)
  • What are per deim expenses and why do you need to be concerned about them? (FCPA Blog)
  • Flight risk or spend-thrift? First person to receive UWO arrested in London. (BBC online)
Nov 6, 2018

NOVEMBER 6, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

Nov 5, 2018

In this episode, I visit with James Koukios, a partner at Morrison and Foerster in Washington DC. Koukios is a former prosecutor from the Department of Justice who worked in the FCPA Unit. He is back to discuss the firm’s monthly newsletter the Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for August 2018. In this podcast we discuss:

 

  1. How each month’s newsletter is produced, what goes into it and how topics and issues are generated.
  2. The declination with disgorgement received by the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited given
  3. There were three declinations discussed in the newsletter: (a) Guralp Systems Limited; (b) Hertz; (c) Electrobras; and (d) Sinotec Biovac. We briefly discuss each case and then the overall themes or lessons to be learned from them collectively;
  4. The case that keeps on giving and going-PdVSA. We discuss the month’s indicments and prosecutions.
  5. The 1MDB prosecutions and why every US company involved with 1MDB or the prior Malaysian government needs to scrub their operations and interactions with them now to determine if there were any suspicious payments.
  6. The Hoskinsdecision. What are the implications of this case for the compliance practitioner, white collar defense lawyer and in-house compliance professional.
  7. The incentives the Justice Department has given to companies to come in self-disclose FCPA violations under the Sessions administration.

To see the firm’s Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for August 2018, click here.

Nov 5, 2018

NOVEMER 5, 2018 BY TOM FOX

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Corruption allegations throw Sri Lanka into turmoil. (New York Times)
  • New academic paper shows the ROI on robust whistleblower program. (Navex Global)
  • SEC levied nearly $4bn in fines for last fiscal year. (Wall Street Journal)
  • Head of Australian Cricket resigns after scathing report on ball tampering scandal. (BBC)
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