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
For many years the Dutch government lagged behind countries like the United States, the UK and Germany enforcing anti-corruption laws. But that has recently changed in a dramatic way.
I wrote a post nearly two years ago for the FCPA Blog about Dutch enforcement actions against KPMG and the construction company Ballast Nedam.… Continue Reading
First the good news. The Netherlands ranked fifth on the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, up from eighth last year, and now trailing only Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and New Zealand on the CPI.… Continue Reading
UK oil services firm Petrofac PLC said it launched an investigation into allegations of bribery to win contracts Kazakhstan and the Middle East.
Australia’s Fairfax Media and the Huffington Post reported that Monaco-based Unaoil was a middleman for bribes, according to leaked emails the news outlets said they viewed.… Continue Reading
Let’s go straight to some news from beyond America’s shores during the past year.
SBM Offshore paid $240 million to Dutch authorities to settle allegations that it bribed government officials in Angola, Brazil, and Equatorial Guinea.… Continue Reading
Job Title: Director, Compliance & Monitoring
Employer: KPMG
Location: New York, NY
Description
Perform mergers and acquisition integrity due diligence, facilitate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) due diligence and program development, anti-money laundering due diligence, remediation, and procedure development, conduct fraud investigations, background research of targets and related parties, perform asset identification .… Continue Reading
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact scrutinizes the spending of the UK’s £11.5 billion ($18.4 billion) overseas development assistance budget. The aid budget, which is the second largest after that of the United States, has been expanded to reach .71% of GDP and represents a genuine achievement for the current coalition government in difficult financial times.… Continue Reading
Accounting giant Ernst & Young will pay $4 million to settle civil charges that it violated auditor independence rules after one of its units lobbied congressional staffers on behalf of audit clients, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday.… Continue Reading
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it is trying to reach a settlement with the Chinese units of the Big Four accounting firms of a long-running dispute over regulators’ access to audit documents.… Continue Reading
A former chief risk officer for Deloitte & Touche settled SEC civil charges alleging he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in “casino markers” while serving as an adviser on the audit of a casino gaming corporation.… Continue Reading
Boards of directors in global companies are showing an increased interest in establishing financial crime committees and hiring notable experts to advise them.
Several well-publicized enforcement actions have provided the impetus by requiring companies to establish such board-level committees and add to their financial crime expertise.… Continue Reading
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged accounting firm KPMG with violating auditor independence rules.
An SEC investigation found that the Big Four firm provided non-audit assistance such as bookkeeping and corporate finance services to the affiliates of companies it was auditing.… Continue Reading
Chinese units of the “big four” accounting firms were suspended from auditing U.S.-listed companies for six months. The judge’s ruling Wednesday follows a lengthy dispute over the companies’ refusal to furnish their audit papers and documents to the SEC.… Continue Reading