In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
Tag: FCPA
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.
- 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)
- 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.
- Jay Clayton gins up fake written comments to support regulation change. Zachary Mider and Ben Elgin report in Bloomberg.
- Former Keppel Offshore lawyer sentenced to time served. Dick Cassin reports in the FCPA Blog.
- Why punishing the bribe takers is equally important as punishing the bribe payors? Matthew Stephenson explains it all in the Global Anti-Corruption Blog.
- 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.
- What is ‘enforcement fatigue’ and how did Alstom overcome it? Dylan Tokar reports in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
- of Treasury bringing more sanctions cases against shipping companies. Kristin Broughton reports in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
- What will risk and compliance look like in 2020? David Banks considers in Navex Global’s Ethics & Compliance Matters blog.
- How does M&A benefit from an independent assessment? Jay continues his series on CCI.
- What are the implications of Gen Z on the front lines of compliance? Gaurov Kapoor explores in CCI.
- 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.
- 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.
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:
- What can we learn from Quad/Graphics and sham 3rd parties?
- Beware of over expansion without appropriate FCPA controls.
- Why does control override inform the enforcement action involving Westport Fuels Systems?
- The M&A implications of Westport Fuels Systems?
- Why does the Barclays FCPA enforcement action get back to FCPA basics?
- How effective is your training program?
Resources
From Tom Fox
- Westport Fuels
- Barclays
- Quad/Graphics
From Mike Volkov
Marx Brothers
Coconuts-the full movie on YouTube.
The fallout from the Hoskins guilty verdict still resonates. Tom and Jay reflect upon it, what it means to play by the rules and then turn to some other of this week’s top compliance and ethics stories which caught their collective eyes.
- Hoskins found guility. Dylan Tokar reports in WSJ. Dick Cassin the FCPA Blog. Tom and Mike Volkov consider in the FCPA Compliance Report. How the verdict bolsters the DOJ, in GIR.
- Astros accused by ex-player of cheating in 2017 Championship season. David Schonenfield breaks down sign-stealing in com. Michael Rosenberg reports in Si.com. Buster Olney says the Astros cannot be trusted to investigation themselves, in ESPN.com. Tom weighs in on the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog.
- How do you balance perception based culture with fact based compliance? Anna Romberg in Navex Global’s Ethics & Compliance Matters blog.
- Twists and turns in the Cognizant case. Bill Wichert in Law360. (sub req’d)
- What can WeWork teach us about private company compliance. Erica Salmon Byrne in the FCPA Blog.
- A Guidebook to Corporate Governance, on Forum on Corporate Governance.
- Deutsche Bank whistleblower loses appeal. Jon Hill in Law360. (sub req’d)
- Why do you need oversight of merged companies? Jay explores in his continuing series on CCI.
- TRACE corruption ratings for 2019 are out. Matt Kelly reviews in Radical Compliance.
- Is FCPA enforcement inconsistent? Three lawyers from Bass, Berry say yes in CCI.
- Take a deep dive into SEC 2018/9 enforcement numbers. Cleary Gottlieb lawyers on NYU’sCompliance and Enforcement Blog.
- The Compliance Kitchen, a podcast hosted by Silvia Surman, premiers on the Compliance Podcast Network.
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.
In this episode I visit with Mike Volkov about the Hoskins verdict, which was announced on Friday, November 8. In it Lawrence Hoskins was found guilty on six counts of violating the FCPA, three counts of money laundering, and two counts of conspiracy. Hoskins was acquitted on one money laundering count. We explore this case from the trial perspective. Some of the highlights include:
- What was the significance of the verdict?
- What evidence did the prosecutors have to put forward to prove agency?
- How do prosecutors think through jury presentations?
- Did the fact that Hoskins basic defense was that he was in charge of a criminal conspiracy and not an agent play poorly in front of the jury ?
- What might all this mean for FCPA prosecutions going forward? How about internal investigations?
- What does this case say about being the first to cooperate?
- What signal does this case say about DOJ prosecution of individuals under the FCPA?
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- Hoskins goes to trial. (WSJ)
- John Wood Group may be in deep trouble over use of Unaoil. (Sunday Post)
- Boeing’s CEO knew about pilot’s warning before 2nd (NYT)
- Did PG&E lines start the Sonoma Fire? (Washington Post)
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. Today we have a special live and in person podcast recording from Converge19. In this episode, Matt Kelly and I go into the weeds to explore the recent SEC enforcement action against Quad/Graphics and its Peruvian subsidiary. Matt comes in smoking on the egregious conduct of the company and the lack of criminal sanctions against the company.
Some of the highlights include:
- How did the company garner credit for prompt disclosure when it knew about the conduct for 3 years?
- Why have there been no criminal indictments against individuals?
- How many sham vendors, invoices and payments does a company need to take notice?
- Where was compliance?
- Why is it the sham-ness of it all?
For additional reading see the following:
Matt’s blog post, Graphics Firm Draws $10 FCPA Settlement, on Radical Compliance.
Tom’s blog post, Quad/Graphics-the Sham-ness of it all, on the FCPA Compliance Report.
As SEC Chair Jay Clayton scolds the rest of the world for its lack of anti-corruption enforcement and does say why he wants to dump a PCAOB Member, Tom and Jay are back to discuss some of this week’s top compliance and ethics stories which caught their collective eyes.
- SEC Chair scolds weak overseas anti-corruption enforcement. Dave Micheal reports in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
- Why does SEC Chairman want to get rid of PCAOB member, Kathleen Hamm? Francine McKenna explores in MarketWatch.
- Fair Pay to Play? California pass law allowing college athletes to be compensated. Michael McCann reports in com.
- Did the SFO put in a ‘self-certification’ requirement in its recent Guidance on Cooperation? Aziz Rahman says yes in the FCPA Blog.
- How can independent integrity monitors help to limit adverse consequences in health care? Jay concludes his series on monitors in the health care industry in CCI.
- NYU PCCE gets new Executive Director as Alycin Cooley joins the group. NYU Compliance and Enforcement Blog.
- How can you process personal employee data under GDPR? Laura Wright, Sarah Greenwood and Andrew Reeves opine in the FCPA Blog.
- What happens when employees ethical values are greater than those shown by their employer? Michael Toebee explores in an interesting post on CCI.
- One commentator suggests we hold back on international enforcement against bribe-takers. Anton Moiseeineko writes in theFCPA Blog.
- Tom continues his preview of the Converge19 speakers in a special bonus series of podcasts on the Compliance Podcast Network. Check out the following: Monday-Ricardo Pellafone and Ashley Lewis on Building Your Brand; Tuesday-Michael Williamson on moving to a values based culture; Wednesday-Mike Volkov on the Nuts and Bolts of Sanctions Compliance; Thursday-Nicole Pitts on Increasing Employee Engagement and Friday- Eric Feldman on the CCO’s role in performance management. The podcast is available on multiple sites: the FCPA Compliance Report, iTunes, JDSupra, Megaphone,YouTube, Spotifyand theCompliance Podcast Network.
- The Everything Compliance gang will be doing its first live podcast at Converge19. You should be there! Listeners to this podcast can obtain a complimentary ticket by using the promotion code foxvip, for registration and information, 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. 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.
In this episode I visit with podcast favorite Morrison and Foerster partner James Koukios on the firm’s Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for April 2019. We look at some of the key international developments. Highlights from the podcast include:
- The debate Over Meaning of “Agent” Under FCPA Intensifies Ahead of Hoskins Trial.
- Federal Court Finds FCPA Investigation Documents Protected by Attorney-Client Privilege.
- International Maritime Organization (IMO) Sets Anti-Corruption Agenda.
- We take a deep dive into the new Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, 2019 Guidance. What is new (if anything)? How does this assist the corporate compliance professional? Should it be read in conjunction with the Benczkowski Memo?
To see a copy of the Morrison and Foerster Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for April 2019, click here.