News and commentary about white-collar crime, enforcement, and compliance
Harry Cassin
Publisher and Editor
Andy Spalding
Senior Editor
Jessica Tillipman
Senior Editor
Bill Steinman
Senior Editor
Richard L. Cassin
Editor at Large
Elizabeth K. Spahn
Editor Emeritus
Cody Worthington
Contributing Editor
Julie DiMauro
Contributing Editor
Thomas Fox
Contributing Editor
Marc Alain Bohn
Contributing Editor
Bill Waite
Contributing Editor
Russell A. Stamets
Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong
Contributing Editor
Eric Carlson
Contributing Editor
On July 11 the head of the Antitrust Division will give a presentation at NYU on incentives for compliance programs. Many of us believe the Division will finally endorse the role of compliance programs and make it clear that diligent programs do matter when it comes to enforcement decisions.… Continue Reading
So there are countries around the world that have “gone beyond” the FCPA and prohibited facilitating payments. Good for them. And the United States “lags behind” because it still does not prohibit such payments.… Continue Reading
My prior post for the FCPA Blog suggested that changes are needed to the ISO 37001 anti-bribery management system before countries, agencies, and companies move forward with large-scale adoption.
One of my suggestions in particular — that ISO replace certification with a process for obtaining reviews of compliance programs — attracted thoughtful opposing comments and some criticism.… Continue Reading
We don’t know what will happen with ISO 37001. Will it flourish and become a global standard, or will it languish? But there is certainly room to improve what we have been given.… Continue Reading
This has always been a challenging question: How do you prove that preventive work stopped something bad from happening?
Over the years one thing I have noticed is that people who have done compliance and ethics work have actual stories about getting calls from employees, or talking with them at training, or dealing with helpline calls, where we know our work has helped head off a violation. … Continue Reading
OK, we get it. Companies should have effective compliance and ethics programs to fight all kinds of corporate crime and misconduct, including bribery.
In particular, the fight against bribery is a prime example of this need — to have companies do what they can to help end this scourge.… Continue Reading
OK, here is the starting point. Someone breaks the law and they need to be punished. Sounds good. Someone misuses government money and is penalized. Still sounds good.
Big Brothers Big Sisters pays a $1.6 million penalty to the federal government.… Continue Reading
Andy Spalding asked in a post on the FCPA Blog why countries that allow facilitating payments seem to have lower levels of corruption? He didn’t find a definitive answer. But I want to offer my own explanation of why countries that permit facilitating payments might have a better record than those that do not.… Continue Reading
In his post yesterday about “business-side enforcement,” Mike Scher made some good points. But here’s one big reason why “collective action” has not caught on in the U.S.: antitrust. We antitrust lawyers are very nervous about clients meeting and talking with competitors. … Continue Reading
I recently read a decision by the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (now CMA) dealing with a competition law case. In the Lloyds Pharmacy/Tomms case the OFT put into action its policy on giving companies credit for having compliance programs.… Continue Reading
In the FCPA area we all know how important it is to have effective compliance programs. The DOJ’s Criminal Division and the SEC have emphasized that these programs need to be diligent, and not mere formalities.… Continue Reading