Day: December 12, 2022

Categories
Principled Podcast

Season 8 – Episode 12 – Part 2: Geopolitics and the Interconnectedness of Compliance Risks

What you’ll learn on this podcast episode

In this episode of the Principled Podcast, host Susan Divers continues her conversation from Episode 11 with Tom Fox, the founder of the Compliance Podcast Network, on the changing geopolitical landscape and its impact on E&C. Listen in as the two discuss how anti-corruption is a key component of ESG, the consequences of compliance in cybersecurity, and the growing interconnectedness of risks. You can listen to Episode 11 here. 

To learn more, download a copy of Tom Fox’s white paper Never the Same: Five Key Areas in Which Business Will Never Be the Same After the Russian Invasion. 

Guest: Tom Fox

Tom_Fox_grayscale

Tom Fox is literally the guy who wrote the book on compliance with the international compliance best-seller The Compliance Handbook, 3rd edition, which was released by LexisNexis in May 2022. Tom has authored 23 other books on business leadership, compliance and ethics, and corporate governance, including the international best-sellers Lessons Learned on Compliance and Ethics and Best Practices Under the FCPA and Bribery Act, as well as his award-winning series “Fox on Compliance.”

Tom leads the social media discussion on compliance with his award-winning blog, and is the Voice of Compliance, having founded the award-winning Compliance Podcast Network and hosting or producing multiple award-winning podcasts. He is an executive leader at the C-Suite Network, the world’s most trusted network of C-Suite leaders. He can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

Host: Susan Divers

Susan_Divers_Principled_Podcast

Susan Divers is the director of thought leadership and best practices with LRN Corporation. She brings 30+ years’ accomplishments and experience in the ethics and compliance arena to LRN clients and colleagues. This expertise includes building state-of-the-art compliance programs infused with values, designing user-friendly means of engaging and informing employees, fostering an embedded culture of compliance, and sharing substantial subject matter expertise in anti-corruption, export controls, sanctions, and other key areas of compliance.

Prior to joining LRN, Mrs. Divers served as AECOM’s Assistant General for Global Ethics & Compliance and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer. Under her leadership, AECOM’s ethics and compliance program garnered six external awards in recognition of its effectiveness and Mrs. Divers’ thought leadership in the ethics field. In 2011, Mrs. Divers received the AECOM CEO Award of Excellence, which recognized her work in advancing the company’s ethics and compliance program.

Before joining AECOM, she worked at SAIC and Lockheed Martin in the international compliance area. Prior to that, she was a partner with the DC office of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal. She also spent four years in London and is qualified as a Solicitor to the High Court of England and Wales, practicing in the international arena with the law firms of Theodore Goddard & Co. and Herbert Smith & Co. She also served as an attorney in the Office of the Legal Advisor at the Department of State and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the UN working on the first anti-corruption multilateral treaty initiative.

Mrs. Divers is a member of the DC Bar and a graduate of Trinity College, Washington D.C. and of the National Law Center of George Washington University. In 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Ethisphere Magazine listed her as one the “Attorneys Who Matter” in the ethics & compliance area. She is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Rutgers University Center for Ethical Behavior and served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Practical Training from 2005-2008. She resides in Northern Virginia and is a frequent speaker, writer and commentator on ethics and compliance topics.

 

Categories
Corruption, Crime and Compliance

Update on Export Controls and Sanctions: Interview with Alex Cotoia

In early October, the BIS announced two rules imposing significant export controls on semiconductor chips transactions for supercomputer end uses. This week’s show discusses recent developments in the sphere of export controls and sanctions. Alexander Cotoia, Regulatory Compliance Manager at the Volkov Law Group, joins Michael Volkov to explore the BIS’ ramping up of export control enforcement, including the new restrictions on China and Russia.

Some ideas you’ll hear them explore are:

  • The SQE route for experienced legal professionals aims to democratize the legal profession to include underrepresented minorities and other people who might not have access to the typical training contract required for being a solicitor. 
  • In early October, the BIS announced two rules imposing significant export controls on semiconductor chips transactions for supercomputer end uses. Their aim is to obstruct China’s ability to use these supercomputers to upgrade their military capabilities and the propagation of WMDs. Within these new rules, controls on the export of semiconductor manufacturing technology in certain transactions for integrated circuitry were also imposed.
  • Much of the dissent from professionals over these new restrictions stems from a fundamental disagreement in terms of policy rather than implementation, Alexander shares. Many professionals have become accustomed to the free-trade arrangement with China to export sophisticated technologies for integration end uses, and fear that the more stringent controls will compromise that arrangement.
  • The aftermath of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine saw coordinated efforts at the highest levels of US government designed to prevent Russia from acquiring assets and commodities that could be used for military purposes.
  • Alexander believes Matt Axelrod’s guidance about changing the way some administrative violations of EAR99 will be viewed was very instructive. One of the premises underlying that change was using non-monetary resolutions for less serious violations, but also imposing more stringent financial penalties on those who engage in culpable acts.
  • If you have government contracts, or are in the telecommunications industry, you’re not allowed to have Huawei products on your premises.

 

Resources

Bureau of Industry Security Ramping Up Export Control Enforcement

Alexander Cotoia on LinkedIn

Email Alex:  acotoia@volkovlaw.com

Email Michael: mvolkov@volkovlaw.com 

Volkov Law Group

 

Categories
All Things Investigations

All Things Investigations: Episode 17 – Kevin Abikoff and Laura Perkins on the FCPA & Anti-Bribery Fall 2022 Alert

 

Welcome to the Hughes Hubbard Anti-Corruption and Internal Investigations Practice Group’s Podcast, All Things Investigations. In this podcast, host Tom Fox and guests Laura Perkins and Kevin Abikoff of the Hughes Hubbard Anti-Corruption & Internal Investigations Practice Group highlight some of the key legal issues in white-collar investigations, locally and internationally.

 

 

Laura Perkins is a Hughes Hubbard partner whose practice focuses on representing clients in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and white-collar criminal investigations. She also advises clients on issues related to the FCPA, the federal securities laws, the False Claims Act, and other federal statutes. 

Kevin Abikoff is partner, deputy chair at Hughes Hubbard, and Chairman of the firm’s Anti-Corruption & Internal Investigations Practice Group. He specializes in securities and white-collar criminal litigation, enforcement, regulation, and counseling, emphasizing the representation of entities in anti-corruption (including FCPA) matters.

Key ideas we discuss in this podcast:

  • The DOJ’s recent discussions about requiring Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) certifications.
  • The Monaco Memo is a guidance document from the DOJ that sets expectations for prosecutors when investigating and prosecuting companies. 
  • How the Monaco Memo is taking a different approach to monitoring.
  • The Monaco Memo gives companies flexibility in how they approach compliance, demonstrating they take it seriously. 
  • The DOJ can now successfully prosecute internal controls in a criminal context.
  • Assessing the past year in FCPA.

 

Resources

Hughes Hubbard & Reed website 

FCPA & Bribery 2022 Fall Alert

Laura Perkins on LinkedIn

Kevin Abikoff on LinkedIn

 

Categories
The ESG Report

Legal Contracts for ESG with Sarah Dadush and David Snyder

Tom Fox welcomes  to this episode of the ESG Report. They are both law professors with backgrounds in human rights. In this conversation, they join Tom Fox to talk about the role of contracting in ESG.

Robust Supplier Codes of Conduct

Tom asks what steps are being taken to build more robust contract clauses. David explains that the process is still fairly in its initial state. Business lawyers have only recently adopted policies against forced labor and child labor. Lawyers are advising their clients to sign on to these policies, which is only one of the first few steps. Getting them implemented, however, is the true challenge. “The policies sit there in the corporate minutes, and unless they’re in the contracts, they’re not going to be implemented,” David says. These policies need to be in operation.  “To get them implemented, to get them operationalized, they need to be in the contracts.”

 

Human Rights, Model Clauses & ESG

“Part of the history of ESG is focusing on equipping consumers to make choices that are more and more aligned with their values,” Sarah tells Tom. This has expanded to include not only consumers but investors, thus bringing in more money and leverage to influence corporate behavior. The S in ESG comes into play with model clauses because it looks at human rights and employee rights. “Our focus within the model contract laws is on worker protection,” Sarah remarks. “We tend to think often of things like child labor, trafficked labor, forced labor in various shades. What we are including or addressing specifically in the model contract laws is worker conditions.”

 

Model Clauses & Regulatory Obligations 

Tom asks if model clauses can help companies meet their regulatory requirements. With model contract clauses in place, human rights due diligence are going to be more effective, David and Sarah agree. “They show the regulators that you are serious about doing something about this,” David remarks. However, model contracts need to be put into place. If they are signed but not acted upon, all you have is paper. “Once you’ve agreed to this human rights due diligence or a due diligence regime, and then we also have clauses about sharing information and generating documentation, then you are going to be able to document what you have done,” David adds. 

Sharing information will result in communication and documentation of what’s going on at the company. 

 

Resources

Sarah Dadush | LinkedIn 

David Snyder | LinkedIn

 

Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

FTX and Risk: Part 2 – Risk Management and Due Diligence

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the most senior podcast in compliance. In this episode, I conclude a 2-part series on FTX and risk. I am joined by Gilbert Paiz and Andrew Gay, principals in the Texas Hill Country Advisors. In our previous Part 1, we considered risk and risk management through the lens of US-domiciled financial institutions and how their risk management protocols help assess risk and manage it throughout the life cycle of a banking-customer relationship. In this Part 2, we consider individual risk in investing and what type of background information, questions, and due diligence individuals should engage in and how these questions and background investigations apply equally to larger investments made by sophisticated investors, hedge funds, and institutional investors; who should have made them before investing in FTX but they all failed to do so.

Some of the highlights include:

·      What due diligence should an individual perform?

·      What should an individual look for in a financial statement?

·      Why is the physical location of businesses and where it might be incorporated such an important piece of information?

·      What are backstops, guarantees, or other mechanisms to retrieve investments?

·      What Due Diligence mistakes did you see in FTX?

·      What are related party transactions, and why are they problematic?

·      Why are audited financials critical?

 Resources

Texas Hill Country Advisors

Categories
Daily Compliance News

December 12, 2022 – The Economic Sanctions Edition

Welcome to the Daily Compliance News. Each day, Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance, brings you four compliance-related stories to start your day. Sit back, enjoy a cup of morning coffee and listen to the Daily Compliance News. All from the Compliance Podcast Network.

Stories we are following in today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • New Peru President asks cabinet to take an anti-corruption pledge. (AP News)
  • Juul to pay $1.7bn for targeting minors. (NYT)
  • Economic sanctions levied on US-listed companies. (WSJ)
  • Hertz pays $168 MM for false claims. (WaPo)