News and commentary about white-collar crime, enforcement, and compliance
Harry Cassin
Publisher and Editor
Andy Spalding
Senior Editor
Jessica Tillipman
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
Shruti J. Shah
Contributing Editor
Russell A. Stamets
Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong
Contributing Editor
Eric Carlson
Contributing Editor
Bill Steinman
Contributing Editor
After reading my earlier posts about privatization opportunities in Kazakhstan and the deterrent effect of the FCPA on American investment in that country, and Kazakh listings in the U.S., a reader asked whether it is difficult to do business in Kazakhstan in an FCPA-compliant manner.… Continue Reading
I’ve talked in prior posts about the Kazakhstan president’s plans to privatize state-owned companies, and the reticence of American companies to invest in a country that’s a high-risk destination from the FCPA standpoint.… Continue Reading
I witnessed an amazing era of development in Kazakhstan when I moved to Almaty in 1994 as a legal advisor on a USAID-sponsored legal reform project.
Despite the great promise of those earlier years, this ex-Soviet republic with huge oil and metal deposits and a once-thriving exports with China and Russia is now facing a prolonged economic slump.… Continue Reading
BOTA was the first foundation established to restitute assets associated with an FCPA prosecution to victims of corruption. What were its key lessons that could be relevant to future foundations established for the same purpose? … Continue Reading
Image courtesy of the Clinton FoundationIn 2005, former president Bill Clinton traveled to Kazakhstan to meet with its leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Clinton flew to Almaty with the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra on Giustra’s private jet, the New York Times reported Thursday.… Continue Reading
BOTA had three programs, with its largest, the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program, briefly explained in the previous post. Funds from the Pictet and Cie bank account associated with James Giffen and President Nazarbayev were used in two other ways to help poor children and youth in Kazakhstan: via a NGO grants program, called the Social Service Program (SSP), and through a scholarship program known as the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). … Continue Reading
What were the motivations of the key actors responsible for the creation of BOTA Foundation — the governments of the United States, Switzerland, and Kazakhstan? And what role did the World Bank play, as well as opposition politicians and civil society activists in Kazakhstan?… Continue Reading
The story of BOTA’s capital and creation starts with politics and oil in Kazakhstan, the last of the ex-Soviet republics to gain its independence in 1991. As well chronicled in Steve LeVine’s definitive account of the era, The Oil and the Glory, during the 90s there was a scramble amongst Western interests to secure oil drilling rights in the Caspian Sea, which had some of the largest untapped reserves in the world.… Continue Reading