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This Week in FCPA

Episode 225 – the I Beat Covid edition


As President Trump claims to be ‘Covid-free’ and the (non-cheating) Houston Astros prepare to return to the ALCS, Tom and Jay are back to look at top compliance articles and stories which caught their eye this week.

  1. JPMorgan pays $920 million fine for spooking. Matt Kelly looks at it in Radical Compalince. Tom and Matt take a deep dive in Compliance into the Weeds. Mike Volkov considers on Corruption Crime and Compliance.
  2. What is ‘efficient patent infringement’ (sort of like being ‘just a little bit’ pregnant)? Jon Rusch in Dipping Through Geometries.
  3. Of donut holes and cyber attacks. Jonathan Marks in Board and Fraud.
  4. What is effective discipline? Jeff Kaplan in CEP Magazine.
  5. Is the SEC moving to increase its penalties in light of Lui? Robert Cohen and Stefani Johnson Myrick in NYU’s Compliance and Enforcement Blog.
  6. Mobile devices and internal investigations. David Carns in CCI.
  7. What is a Grand Jury subpoena? Sara Kropf in Grand Jury Target.
  8. The Everything Complaince gang takes a dive into the Herbalife FCPA resolution. Monday-Mike Volkov on what he would have done; Tuesday-Jay Rosen on the lack of a monitorship; Wednesday-Matt Kelly on the role of Internal Audit; Thursday-Jonathan Marks on the role of gatekeepers; Friday-Jonathan Armstrong on the UK perspective.
  9. On the Compliance Podcast Network, on 31 Days to a More Effective Compliance Program, we continue our exploration of compliance for Business Ventures.  Monday-Dis-linking illegal conduct; Tuesday-JV Risks Under the FCPA; Wednesday– JV Due Diligence; Thursday-Compliance T&C’s in JV agreements; Friday-Auditing JVs .Note 31 Days to a More Effective Compliance Program now has its own iTunes channel. If you want to binge out and listen to only these episodes, click here.
  10. Join Tom (and Matt Kelly) for Home Stretch 2020, a webinar sponsored by Complaince Line. Check at the agenda and register here.

Tom Fox is the Compliance Evangelist and can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Jay Rosen is Mr. Monitor and can be reached at jrosen@affiliatedmonitors.com.

Categories
Daily Compliance News

October 9, 2020-the Increased Compliance Risks edition


In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Covid has increased compliance risks. (WSJ)
  • Trump NLRB accuses Google contractor of illegal anti-union activity. (NYT)
  • OSHA to workers on Covid-TS baby. (WaPo)
  • Trump ally, who worked for Jho Low, pleads guilty. (WSJ)
Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Jonathan Marks on the Role of Gatekeepers


In this special five-part podcast series, I take a deep dive into the recent Herbalife FCPA Resolution. Over the next 5 podcasts Mike Volkov, Jay Rosen, Matt Kelly, Jonathan Marks and Jonathan Armstrong will all bring their own unique perspectives to this settlement. In this Part 4, Jonathan Marks and Tom Fox discuss the role of gatekeepers and the lack of skepticism at the Board of Directors.
Some of the highlights include:

  • Chief Audit Executive and Chief Compliance Officer exits should be 8K events.
  • Who guards the gatekeepers?
  • The Board is responsible for management override of controls.
  • Why was there a lack of skepticism at the Board level?
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ComplianceLIVE

Episode 31: Adaptive Interview Smackdown! with Will McSpadden


Asking questions with empathy is a trademark at ComplianceLine. Amanda welcomes Will McSpadden back to the show to discuss how our adaptive interview lays waste to the competitor’s ten-question script.

Check out more episodes and full episode videos at ComplianceLine.com, and don’t forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform!

For more information on ComplianceLine, click here.

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Life with GDPR

H&M Fined €35.2 for Data Privacy Breaches


In this episode Jonathan Armstrong and Tom Fox are back to discuss issues relating to data privacy, data protection and GDPR. Today, we consider recent decision by the Hamburg Data Protection Authority which fined H&M Germany €35.2m for GDPR violations. The case concerned excessive use of employee data and is the largest fine so far imposed by regulators for the handling of employee data. We are likely to see more pressure on employers to justify the handling of employee data as a result of today’s fine. Some of the highlights are:

  1. What did the regulator say?
  2. What did H&M do after the investigation began?
  3. What about the current pandemic?
  4. What are the implications going forward?
  5. What is this decision’s precedential value?
  6. What are some practical tips for compliance?

Check out the Cordery Compliance, client alert on this case, click here. For more information on Cordery Compliance, go their website here. Also check out the GDPR Navigator, one of the top resources for GDPR Compliance by clicking here.

Categories
Daily Compliance News

October 8, 2020-the End of PdVSA edition


In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • End of PdVSA? (NYT)
  • Texas county indicts Netflix for child porn. (NYT)
  • US accused of violating forced-labor laws. (WaPo)
  • Chicken industry price-fixing (I’m shocked). (WSJ)
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FCPA Compliance Report

Special Edition – Compliance Book Club Interview of Robert Chesnut on Intentional Integrity


In this special edition, I am pleased to cross-post a recent live event hosted by Sean Freidlin, Director Product Marketing at SAI Global. He hosted the third edition of SAI Global’s Compliance Book Club, featuring Robert Chesnut, author of Intentional Integrity. Sean’s Compliance Book Club is fast becoming one of the most listened to events in the compliance world. His interview with Robert Chesnut is great information for the compliance professional. Sean graciously allowed me to cross-post this interview as a podcast on the Compliance Podcast Network.
SAI Global’s Compliance Book Club is a community initiative that brings ethics, compliance, and risk professionals together around a book you’ll love, and invites everyone to participate in a live Q&A and discussion with the author.  For the third meeting, and as part of our celebration of the fifth annual International Compliance Officer Day, we present  “Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution” by Robert Chesnut. In Intentional Integrity, Chesnut offers a six-step process for leaders to foster and manage a culture of integrity at work. He explains the rationale and legal context for the ethics and practices, and presents scenarios to illuminate the nuances of thinking deeply and objectively about workplace culture.
You can check out the original recording here. Check out the full panoply of SAI Global Ethical Leadership Articles and Resources here.

Categories
Fraud Eats Strategy

Fraud Eats Strategy Episode 7: Bullet Proof FCPA Due Diligence

In this episode we going explore “bullet-proofing” your FCPA acquisition due diligence, merger integration and the government’s recent revisions to the FCPA Resource Guide and Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs guidance. Gone are the days when the potential bribery and corruption risk of an acquisition can afford to be something assessed at the 11th hour or not at all. Successor liability stemming from undiscovered bribery activity can give rise to devastating financial consequences. Joining me today is Skadden Arps partner and FCPA luminary Gary DiBianco. Gary’s practice focuses on advising senior management and boards of directors faced with complex government or internal investigations.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, war lords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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FCPA Compliance Report

Wirecard Part 9, Bring Lawyers Guns and Money


In the Episode, I am joined by Mikhail Reider-Gordon, Managing Director of Institutional Ethics & Integrity at Affiliated Monitors.  Mikhail’s areas of expertise include technology, privacy, cybersecurity, IP and accountability in artificial intelligence; the global anti-corruption and anti-money laundering regimes; media & entertainment; biotech and the life sciences; the public sector and international law.  She is accustomed to working on extremely sensitive and high-profile matters, both nationally and internationally. In this episode, we explore those other professional service providers who enabled Wirecard in our bring Lawyers Guns and Money episode.
Some of the highlights include:

  • Weekly news wrap-up on Wirecard
  • Is EY at its Arthur Anderson moment?
  • Who has potential lawsuits against EY?
  • Is a Bundestag inquiry in the works?
  • Will there be an EU-level inquiry into the German government response?
  • Who were the Enablers?
  • Why is now the time for lawyers to take a stand for the Rule of Law?
Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Matt Kelly on the Role of Internal Audit


In this special five-part podcast series, I take a deep dive into the recent Herbalife FCPA Resolution. Over the next 5 podcasts Mike Volkov, Jay Rosen, Matt Kelly, Jonathan Marks and Jonathan Armstrong will all bring their own unique perspectives to this settlement. In this Part 3, Matt Kelly joins me to consider the role internal audit in this matter and the (non) actions of Herbalife’s Board of Directors.
Some of the highlights include:

  • Internal Audit as window dressing does not good government make.
  • How high up must internal audit push?
  • What is the Board’s duty?
  • Is there a Caremark claim against the Herbalife Board of Directors?