Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest-running podcast in compliance. In this episode, host Tom Fox welcomes Anik Shah, Director & Senior Legal Counsel at Sandisk, for an insightful discussion about the pivotal changes and enforcement actions around the FCPA in 2025 and their implications for 2026.
In 2025, Anik Shah, a preeminent authority on FCPA and anti-corruption enforcement, offers a strategic perspective on the evolving compliance landscape. Given the recent uncertainties following an executive order and the dismissal of high-profile cases, Shah underscores the necessity for companies to maintain robust anti-bribery and anti-corruption controls, especially with potential reprioritization by the Department of Justice. He advocates a proactive risk management approach, emphasizing the importance of third-party risk management and comprehensive training to anticipate and mitigate potential FCPA issues. As enforcement focus shifts toward addressing cartel and transnational criminal organization activities, Shah advises companies to integrate anti-money laundering processes into their compliance strategies to align with global anti-corruption efforts.
Key highlights:
2025 FCPA Enforcement Shifts and Uncertainty
Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy Revolution in 2025
Cartel Risk Mitigation through Compliance Integration
Central Asia Construction Projects: Anti-Corruption Measures
The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. Looking for some hard-hitting insights on compliance? Look no further than Compliance into the Weeds! In this episode of Compliance into the Weeds, Tom Fox and Matt Kelly look at the mixed and muddled messages coming out of the DOJ on FCPA and white collar enforcement.
We discuss recent signals from the DOJ suggesting a reinvigorated stance on corporate malfeasance, juxtaposed with actions like the pardoning of convicted offenders which muddle the overall message. The conversation covers Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s inflammatory speech on the seriousness of FCPA actions, the controversial pardons by President Trump, and the apparent selective enforcement against foreign versus U.S. companies. The episode examines the ramifications of these mixed signals for compliance professionals, companies, and whistleblowers, emphasizing the need for clearer guidance and consistency from the DOJ.
Key Highlights
Mixed Messages from the Justice Department on FCPA and White Collar Enforcement
This episode focuses on geopolitical risk. In the initial spotlight segment, we speak with veteran journalist and Asia-watcher Christopher Cottrell about the military tensions in Thailand and their implications for the viability of the country’s newly proposed gaming law.
Following that, we chat with AML veteran Richard Butler of Dow Jones and data scientist Haider Mannan of BigTXN about the enforcement of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, sanctions, and tariffs in the wake of recent actions by the Trump administration and the recent airstrikes on Iran.
Christopher Cottrell
Christopher Cottrell resides in Thailand and has been covering the Indo-Pacific region since 1997, contributing to publications such as The Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, CNN, The Guardian, Macau Business, The New York Times, and the South China Morning Post.
He spent 18 years in China and has been reporting on geopolitics in the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia for the past four years, having edited UK-based Winna Media’s white papers on the Thai Entertainment Complex bill since 2024.
Richard Butler
Richard Butler is the vice president and APAC head of risk and research for Dow Jones & Co. Based in Sydney, Australia, he is responsible for helping businesses with risk and compliance strategies offsetting various forms of regulatory and commercial risk – such as the provision of high-quality, accurate and comprehensive data for identifying, evaluating and monitoring varying types of risk.
Before joining Dow Jones, Richard was the AVP for Treasury Services for Australia and New Zealand at JPMorgan Chase, where he was responsible for ensuring that JPMorgan’s financial institutional and non-bank financial institution clients in Australia and New Zealand adhered to JPMorgan’s best-in-class Know-Your-Customer, compliance, due diligence, and counter-terrorist financing standards. He began his career at ABN AMRO Bank, where he served as both the CAAML (Client Awareness and Anti-Money Laundering) officer and sales manager for the ABN AMRO Treasury Solutions Group in Dublin, Ireland.
Richard is skilled in governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC), as well as team management, direct sales, relationship building, and financial analysis, particularly in the APAC region.
Haider Mannan
Haider Mannan is the CEO and founder of BigTXN, a risk intelligence data provider. He is a data scientist and subject matter expert in investment screening, specializing in ESG controversies, global sanctions, and investment restrictions. He sits on the UK board of the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists and the membership committee of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association. Haider is also a member of PRMIA‘s advisory expert group on investment risk.
Discussion:
The conversation begins with Chris recounting the threats to Thailand’s security and stability, including the ongoing land border closure and standoff with Cambodia. He recounts with Regulatory Ramblings host Ajay Shamdasani that, notwithstanding its 22 prior coups, military rule, and reputation as a fragile democracy, Thailand has long been the darling of the global investment community, which has long touted its positive long-term economic fundamentals.
He adds the country has curried favor with the West by opening up in ways that many would regard as progressive, such as permitting the sale of cannabis products and paraphernalia, permitting same-sex unions, and seeking to liberalize its gaming sector by tendering a recent bill.
Yet, given the July 1 suspension by the country’s Constitutional Court of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra over ethics violations and the weekslong border spat with Cambodia, which has been roiling fears of Thailand’s 23rd coup d’état, theimplementation of the new gaming law has been scuttled.
The discussion then shifts to Haider, who shares his thoughts on how data can help investment screening. He and Richard comment on how recent changes in the sanctions landscape, given the current geopolitical climate under the second Trump administration, pose a challenge for compliance and legal staff at banking and financial institutions, as well as multinational corporations.
Related to this are concerns about the implications for Asia regarding the extraterritorial enforcement of the much-dreaded US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the prospect of tariff imposition by the White House, as well as the potential for regulatory retaliation by other countries.
It’s worth noting that on June 9, Matthew Galeotti, head of the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) criminal division, saidthat under new FCPA guidelines now in place, it would enforce the Act Firmly but fairly.” The comments followed President Trump’s announcement earlier this year that the DOJ would hold off on FCPA enforcement following a review of current standards, as it was believed the existing regulatory regime put US businesses at a disadvantage when competing abroad.
Haider and Richard also discuss why geopolitics matter and the need for lawyers and risk managers to go beyond merely tracking financial news. The conversation concludes with a discussion of a recent case in which the US DOJ’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctioned entities/companies in Hong Kong and mainland China that were involved in transferring Iranian oil to China.
Regulatory Ramblings podcasts is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong – Reg/Tech Lab, HKU-SCF Fintech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in Fintech, with support from the HKU Faculty of Law.
The award-winning Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast that takes a deep dive into a compliance-related topic, literally going into the weeds to explore a subject more fully. Are you seeking insightful perspectives on compliance? Look no further than Compliance into the Weeds! In this episode of Compliance into the Weeds, Tom Fox and Matt Kelly discuss the recent memorandum from the Deputy Attorney General regarding the investigation and enforcement of the FCPA.
The memo follows President Trump’s executive order pausing FCPA enforcement for six months. The hosts evaluate the potential impacts on compliance programs, with a possible shift to targeting foreign companies that harm US business interests and national security. They also explore the role of the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act and speculate on how the SEC might integrate these changes into its enforcement practices.
The award-winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast that takes a deep dive into a compliance-related topic, literally going into the weeds to explore a subject more fully. Are you looking for some hard-hitting insights on compliance? Look no further than Compliance into the Weeds! In this episode of ‘Compliance into the Weeds,’ Tom Fox and Matt Kelly dive into the Trump Administration’s DOJ nominees, FCPA enforcement going forward, and what it may all mean for compliance professionals.
Tom and Matt explore the potential impacts of these nominations, notably the controversial choice of Matt Gaetz as Attorney General, and how they could shape the direction of anti-corruption enforcement and compliance practices. They also discuss the realistic aspects of other nominees, including Trump’s attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove and former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, who proposed to lead the Southern District of New York. The conversation touches on potential strategies for compliance officers, such as the increased significance of self-disclosure and the broader ramifications for corporate and foreign policy enforcement under a Trump administration.
In this episode, I visit with fan-fav James Koukios, partner at Morrison & Foerster on the firm’s always great monthly Top 10 International Developments newsletter for April 2022.
Key areas we discuss on this podcast are:
· The Stericycle FCPA enforcement action.
· The Roger Ng conviction.
· Limits of prosecution on FCPA accounting provisions?
Welcome to the only roundtable podcast in compliance. In 2021, Everything Compliance was honored by W3 as a top talk show in podcasting. In this episode, we have the quartet of Jay Rosen, Jonathan Marks, Tom Fox and Matt Kelly. We conclude with our fan favorite Shout Outs and Rants.
1. Jay Rosen discusses the hunt for Russian oligarch goods and funds. Rosen shouts out to gaslighters Marjorie Taylor Green and Kevin McCarthy for denying they made comments when the audio was played to them.
2. Matt Kelly takes a deep dive into the Stericycle FCPA enforcement action. Kelly gives a shout out to the Brooklyn Public Library for offering a free library cards to those from towns where the GOP has banned books.
3. Jonathan Marks looks explores the FirstEnergy corruption case and its continued fallout in Ohio. Marks rants about Comcast which marketed a product which does not exist.
4. Tom Fox looks a provocative piece by Dick Cassin which posits the DOJ has changed enforcement priorities to remediation as the key goal. Fox shouts out to shareholders of Credit Suisse who revolted against the Board when it tried to shield itself from liability over its recent financial failures.
The members of the Everything Compliance are:
• Jay Rosen– Jay is Vice President, Business Development Corporate Monitoring at Affiliated Monitors. Rosen can be reached at JRosen@affiliatedmonitors.com
• Karen Woody – One of the top academic experts on the SEC. Woody can be reached at kwoody@wlu.edu
• Matt Kelly – Founder and CEO of Radical Compliance. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@radicalcompliance.com
• Jonathan Armstrong –is our UK colleague, who is an experienced data privacy/data protection lawyer with Cordery in London. Armstrong can be reached at jonathan.armstrong@corderycompliance.com
• Jonathan Marks is Partner, Firm Practice Leader – Global Forensic, Compliance & Integrity Services at Baker Tilly. Marks can be reached at jonathan.marks@bakertilly.com
The host and producer, ranter (and sometime panelist) of Everything Compliance is Tom Fox the Voice of Compliance. He can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Everything Compliance is a part of the Compliance Podcast Network.
In this episode of the FCPA Compliance Report, I am joined by fan favorite James Koukios, partner at Morrison and Foerster. In this episode we take a deep dive into the Lisa Monaco speech from October and related remarks from other DOJ representatives about the DOJ refocus on white collar enforcement and related issues. Highlights of this podcast include:
· Who is the DAG and what does that position entail?
· Reinstatement of Yates Memo.
· Does this change an investigation focus?
· The new focus on culture and how do you assess corporate culture?
· What about reports of all violations, enforcements and even investigations even is outside FCPA?
· What are the implications of this change?
· How will all this work with current FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy?
· The revocation of Benczkowski Memo. What are the implications?
· The new focus on monitorships?
· What about recidivists or those who fail to meet the obligations of their DPA/NPA?
