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
OFAC — the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control — publishes a running log of its sanctions enforcement activity against corporations. The DOJ and SEC do the same with the FCPA.
The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) sphere has dominated the international business and legal landscape in the past few years. ESG, which relates to non-financial performance indicators for an investment or a business, makes it possible to assess corporate actions’ impact on the earth in terms of sustainability and ethics.… Continue Reading
One of the FCPA Blog’s earliest supporters was Adrian Tan, a Singapore lawyer and writer who encouraged spreading the word about the evils of corruption and the benefits of a clean government.… Continue Reading
Recent news about two chief compliance officers, a couple of former lawyers, and a police chief brought to mind a warning nearly ten years ago from then SEC chair Mary Jo White: “We have tremendous respect for the work that you do.… Continue Reading
The trustee for bankrupt crypto giant FTX Group filed a civil complaint last week against former FTX general counsel and chief compliance officer Daniel Friedberg, alleging he acted as a “fixer” who helped divert billions to FTX insiders, paid off whistleblowers and their lawyers, and collected a $3 million bonus and other rewards for his 22-months of service to FTX.… Continue Reading
Although there are numerous parallels between sanctions enforcement and the FCPA, which I talked about last time, there are also significant differences. Let’s look at a few of those.
Self-Contained v.
Early last year, when Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco began describing sanctions as “the new FCPA,” she didn’t mean sanctions enforcement would replace the FCPA. She meant the DOJ is working to replicate the success of FCPA enforcement by using some of the same strategies — a high-intensity focus on finding and punishing violators, deploying innovative tools, promoting international cooperation, and so on.
Through the normal course of research, I review a lot of SEC filings. Over the years, I’ve probably thumbed through more than ten thousand. This has to be the most bizarre SEC filing disclosure related to the FCPA I’ve come across.… Continue Reading
It’s not just your company where it’s happening. It’s every company, everywhere, all at once, and it’s undermining compliance. What is it? Uncertainty. … Continue Reading
Martin Kenney’s recent post on the FCPA Blog argues that private asset recovery lawyers are the key to improving recovery rates in complex transnational corruption and money laundering cases. Switzerland’s final decision to return $8.5 million to Peru in a long-running corruption case is “symbolic” not “practical,” he says and shows the “incompetence of the systems” that currently govern international asset recovery. … Continue Reading
Last week I spent a day with my father in the neighborhood where I grew up. It was a day of reminiscing and temporary goodbyes — as he was moving out West in a few days — but it was also bittersweet, knowing that we’ll never be together again in our old neighborhood.… Continue Reading
The DOJ voluntarily withdrew an FCPA count and four other charges yesterday that it added to its original indictment of Sam Bankman-Fried after his extradition from the Bahamas.… Continue Reading