In this episode, Tom Fox welcomes back Matt Ellis of Miller & Chevalier to recap ACI’s inaugural two-day Cartel Conference in Washington, DC, highlighting an unusually collaborative, high-energy atmosphere around emerging cartel/TCO/FTO compliance risks in Latin America. They discuss DOJ’s Scoular FCPA action as illustrating the long tail of enforcement and a high bar for managing cartel-related and national security risks, while noting the DPA’s remedial steps focus more on traditional anti-corruption controls than TCO/FTO-specific guidance. Government participants emphasized a “whole of government” approach, voluntary disclosure, and potential public-private engagement (including embassy attachés and Treasury) in high-risk scenarios. Key themes included narrow duress defenses, complex “imposter” risks, evolving due diligence beyond traditional screening using data/anomaly detection and local intelligence, and the need to integrate compliance across AML, sanctions, security, and supply chain given severe reputational and business consequences of terrorist or cartel support.
Key Highlights
- Conference Vibe and Energy
- Scoular FCPA Case Takeaways
- When to Engage Government
- Duress Defense and Safety Payments
- Cartel Focused Due Diligence
- AML Lessons for Banks
- Breaking Silos in Compliance
- Parallels to Early FCPA Era
- National Security Stakes
Resources
ACI National FCPA and Global Anti-Corruption Conference, December 10-11 at the Gaylor National Resort
Matt Ellis on LinkedIn
Tom Fox
To learn about the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and the modern compliance professional, check out my latest book, The Game is Afoot-What Sherlock Holmes Teaches About Risk, Ethics and Investigations on Amazon.com