Tag: FCPA

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31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to a More Effective Compliance Program for 3rd Parties-Introduction and Key 2022 Enforcement Actions Involving 3rd Parties

Over the month of April, I will consider the risk management of third-parties in an operationalized compliance program. As every compliance practitioner is aware, third-parties still present the highest risk under the FCPA. You must assess whether the company has a business rationale for needing the third party in the transaction, and the risks posed by third-parties, including their reputations and relationships, if any, with foreign government officials. You should ensure that contract terms with third parties specifically describe the services to be performed, the third party is actually performing the work, and that its compensation is commensurate with the work being provided in that industry and geographical region.   Finally you must engage in ongoing monitoring of the third-party relationships, through updated due diligence, training, audits, and/or annual compliance certifications by the third party.

In this introduction, I visit with Alexander Cotoia, a Regulatory and Compliance Attorney at the Volkov Law Group to consider how recent FCPA enforcement actions point towards the use cases for a robust third-party risk management system. In 2022, the overwhelming majority of FCPA related enforcement actions involved third parties and required organizations to reprioritize third party risk management. In this episode, we consider case studies involving ABB Limited, GOL Airlines and Oracle which all demonstrated the importance of understanding bribery and corruption schemes, making voluntary disclosures, and reassessing third party risk management.

3 Key Takeaways

1. How can organizations reprioritize third-party risk management as a core compliance function?

2. What strategies can organizations use to avoid FCPA violations and maximize cooperation credit?

3.How can organizations effectively assess the risks posed by potential business partners?

Check out The Compliance Handbook, 3rd edition here

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This Week in FCPA

Episode 193 – the Astros Blowback Continues edition

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As the blowback on the Astros, MLB, Commisioner Rob Manfred continues to get worse, Jay and Tom are back to consider some of the top compliance articles and stories which caught our eye this week.

  1. Airbus still making news. Asher Miller provides 5 key takeaways for the compliance practitioner in the FCPA Blog. Dylan Tokar reports on more follow on investigations in the WSJ Risk & Compliance Journal. Joanne Taylor joins Tom on the FCPA Compliance Report to consider the UK perspective. Tom considers the French enforcement perspective in the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog.
  2. Another sentencing in the PdVSA ongoing bribery scandal. See the DOJ Press Release.
  3. What are WOW moments in compliance? Geert Vermeulen begins a 5-part series in Risk and Compliance Platform Europe.
  4. How do compliance officers show their worth? Dick Cassin explain in the FCPA Blog.
  5. Is it time to rebalance your 3rd party risk management strategy? Mike Volkov reports in Corruption Crime and Compliance. Mike writes about the importance of classifying your 3rd parties in Navex Global’s Ethics & Compliance Matters blog.
  6. Is the tide turning against whistleblowers? Aaron Nicodemus explores in Compliance Week. (sub req’d)
  7. Civil damages for corruption claims? Rick Messick considers on the Global Anti-Corruption Blog.
  8. New round of Alstom employee indictments. Dick Cassin reports in the FCPA Blog.
  9. What is a moral hazard moment? Jeff Kaplan explains on the Conflict of Interest blog.
  10. On the Compliance Podcast Network, Tom begins a one month look at the role of HR in compliance on 31 Days to a More Effective Compliance Program.This week saw the following offerings: Monday-succession planning and compliance; Tuesday-compliance performance appraisal review; Wednesday-Hiring a CCO: developing a job profile; Thursday-sales incentives and compliance;Friday-the exit interview. 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.
  11. Join Tom to watch Jay on the panel with other compliance experts in the Dow Jones Refining Compliance Risk event in Hosuton on Tuesday, February 25 from 10 AM to 12 PM. For information and registration click here.
  12. Join Tom in NYC on Thursday, March 12 as Convercent is hosting an Innovation Forum from 3:30-7 PM at Sabrina. This event will allow you to network with like-minded individuals within the ethics and compliance space and hear from Thomas Fox and Philip Winterburn as well. For more information and registration click 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.

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This Week in FCPA

Episode 191 – the All Hail Airbus edition


Reports are that Airbus would settle corruption allegations for nearly $4bn in England were correct. Jay and Tom are back to consider some of the top compliance articles and stories which caught our eye this week.

  1. Airbus commentary is out. Dick Cassin on the FCPA Blog, Mike Volkov on Corruption Crime and Compliance, Tom Fox on the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog and Jonathan Armstrong on Cordery Compliance all lead the discussion.
  2. COSO warns of siloed compliance. Kristin Broughton in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  3. Odebretch extends monitorship 9 months. Will that be enough? Mengqi Sun explores in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  4. What about small annual changes in the TI-CPI? Matthew Stephenson goes diadic in the Global Anti-Corruption Blog.
  5. Is new DOJ Guidance a sword or shield or both? Jay continues his series in CCI.
  6. How to grow your compliance program as your company scales. Gio Gallo explains in CCI.
  7. Worried about CCO liability? Matt Kelly explores on Radical Compliance.
  8. Bernie Ebbers passes. A moment of silence for his role in compliance. Jim Zarolli in NPR.
  9. Speaker programs and big pharma. WilmerHale lawyers opine in NYU’s Compliance and Enforcement Blog.
  10. On the Compliance Podcast Network, Tom begins a one month look at the role of HR in compliance.This week saw the following offerings: Monday-introduction to the role of HR in compliance; Tuesday-the role of HR in creating an ethical culture; Wednesday-the hiring process; Thursday-the reference check. Friday-incentivizing compliance. 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.
  11. Join Tom for the webinar, The Houston Astros: Ethics, Compliance and Sign Stealing onThursday February 13, at 2 PM CST. Registration and information 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
Why a Duck

A Night at the Opera, Part 2 and 2019 FCPA Enforcement Year in Review


From Vaudeville to the Silver Screen to the Small Screen, the Marx Brothers made an impact wherever people found them. Now Tom Fox and Mike Volkov have wedded their love of the Marx Brothers with their passion for compliance and bring them into the boardroom to help explain and explore the sometimes-chaotic world of governance, risk-management, ethics and compliance. In this episode they begin a three-part series where they discuss the movie A Night at the Opera and how it informs the 2019 in Compliance, FCPA enforcement actions and Compliance into 2020 and beyond.  In this episode we review the 2019 FCPA year in enforcement. Highlights from the podcast include:
1.     What were the key lessons learned from SEC enforcement actions in 2019?
2.     What were the key lessons learned from DOJ enforcement actions in 2019?
3.     Why was the Ericsson enforcement action such a stunning resolution?
4.     What was the state of monitorships in 2019?
5.     Why did ‘follow the money’ continue to be critical in 2019?
6.     Did the Yates Memo achieve full expression in 2019?
Resources
Mike Volkov-FCPA Enforcement Highlights
Tom Fox
SEC Enforcement Actions from 2019
Five DOJ Enforcement Actions in 2019
Marx Brothers
The Statement Room Scene-YouTube

Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Episode 457-James Koukios on October MoFo’s International Anti-corruption developments

In the Episode, I visit with James Koukios, a partner at Morrison and Foerster in Washington DC. Koukios is a former prosecutor from the Department of Justice who worked in the FCPA Unit. He is back to discuss the firm’s monthly newsletter the Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for October 2019.
Some of the highlights include:

  • The DOJ Issues Guidance on Corporate Inability-to-Pay Claims. We consider is this something new or codification of prior practices?
  • The Unaoil guilty pleas. Are they huge, even bigger than Panalpina?
  • The EU whistleblower initiative. Is this a sea change or something else? What might it mean for anticorruption enforcement?
  • OECD Expresses Concern over Brazil’s Foreign Bribery Enforcement. Has there been a change in Brazil enforcement or is this simply a part of the natural ebb and flow of enforcement actions?
  • Are things really going to heat up in Mexico in terms of investigations involving Pemex? Should US companies which have done business in Mexico be scrubbing their operations?

Resources
To see the firm’s Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for October 2019, click here.

Categories
Compliance Into the Weeds

Ericsson from the Internal Controls Perspective

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. In this episode, Matt Kelly and I go into the weeds about the Ericsson FCPA enforcement action from the internal controls perspective.
Some of the highlights include:

  • What does this enforcement action tell up about internal controls?
  • How were the business units able to evade internal controls for so long?
  • Was there control override?
  • What is the role of ERP systems such as Oracle and SAP in compliance?
  • If a company refuses to use standard ERP systems, is that a control failure under the FCPA?
  • What are the lessons learned for a corporate compliance program?
  • What does all this mean for compliance professionals going forward?

Resources
Tom’s blog posts, both the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog.
Part 1-Overview
Part 2-The Bribery Schemes

Categories
Daily Compliance News

November 25, 2019, the Another FCPA Guilty Verdict edition

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Another guilty verdict in FCPA trial. (WSJ)
  • Samsung guility of FCPA violations, pays $75MM and gets DPA. (DOJ Press Release)
  • Tyler Swift calls out Carlyle Group over Scooter Braun imbroglio. (NYT)
  • Corruption protests in Colombia. (Independent)
Categories
Daily Compliance News

November 23, 2019, the Bribery is Just Tipping edition

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Maybe Hoskins should have used this defense “Bribing is just tipping”. (Law360)
  • Work for WeWork, T—S—, unless of course you are Adam Neumann. (NYT)
  • Mother was right, “Don’t Lie”. Former Och-Ziff exec sentenced to prison for lying to FBI. (WSJ)
  • Banks snubbed on Aramco IPO. (FT)
Categories
This Week in FCPA

Episode 181-the Fishy Letters edition

SEC Chair Jay Clayton is reduced to having a PR firm create fake investor comments to support a SEC rule change. The Astros cheating scandal gets worse. As Tom worries MLB might take away his replica World Series Championship Trophy and Jay consoles him about when a team cheats and wins, they turn to some other of this week’s top compliance and ethics stories which caught their collective eyes.

  1. Using the same defense as Hoskins, Boustani admits bribery and corruption in Mozambique Tuna Boat case. Will it work out any better for him? Steward Bishop and Frank Runyeon in Law360. (Sub Req’d)
  2. SEC whistleblower tips go down for the first time. Kristen Broughton in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal. Kevin LaCroix sees it otherwise, on the D&O Diary.
  3. Jay Clayton gins up fake written comments to support regulation change. Zachary Mider and Ben Elgin report in Bloomberg.
  4. Former Keppel Offshore lawyer sentenced to time served. Dick Cassin reports in the FCPA Blog.
  5. Why punishing the bribe takers is equally important as punishing the bribe payors? Matthew Stephenson explains it all in the Global Anti-Corruption Blog.  
  6. Does an aggressive position in a Wells submission hurt a company in a SEC enforcement action? Lawyers from Simpson Thatcher explore in NYU’s Compliance and Enforcement Blog.
  7. What is ‘enforcement fatigue’ and how did Alstom overcome it? Dylan Tokar reports in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  8. of Treasury bringing more sanctions cases against shipping companies. Kristin Broughton reports in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  9. What will risk and compliance look like in 2020? David Banks considers in Navex Global’s Ethics & Compliance Matters blog.
  10. How does M&A benefit from an independent assessment? Jay continues his series on CCI.
  11. What are the implications of Gen Z on the front lines of compliance? Gaurov Kapoor explores in CCI.
  12. Recent FCPA enforcement actions shows the SEC will use FCPA Accounting Provisions to hold a company liable for ineffective AML controls. Clay Porter in the National Law Review.
  13. Navex’s Loren Johnson joins the podcast to talk about Navex Global’s 2020 Benchmarking Survey.You can participate in Navex Global’s annual survey by clicking 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.
For more information on how an independent monitor can help improve your company’s ethics and compliance program, visit our sponsor Affiliated Monitors at www.affiliatedmonitors.com.

Categories
Why a Duck

Coconuts and SEC Year End FCPA Enforcement Actions

From Vaudeville to the Silver Screen to the Small Screen, the Marx Brothers made an impact wherever people found them. Now Tom Fox and Mike Volkov have wedded their love of the Marx Brothers with their passion for compliance and bring them into the boardroom to help explain and explore the sometimes-chaotic world of governance, risk-management, ethics and compliance. In this episode they discuss the movie Coconuts and how it informs the three SEC fiscal year end FCPA enforcement actions.  Highlights from the podcast include:

  1. What can we learn from Quad/Graphics and sham 3rd parties?
  2. Beware of over expansion without appropriate FCPA controls.
  3. Why does control override inform the enforcement action involving Westport Fuels Systems?
  4. The M&A implications of Westport Fuels Systems?
  5. Why does the Barclays FCPA enforcement action get back to FCPA basics?
  6. How effective is your training program?

Resources
From Tom Fox

  1. Westport Fuels
  2. Barclays
  3. Quad/Graphics

From Mike Volkov

  1. Barclays
  2. Quad Graphics

Marx Brothers
Coconuts-the full movie on YouTube.