Despite the Trump administration’s generally favorable stance toward cryptocurrency and blockchain innovation, virtual asset services providers (VASPs) must remain vigilant in complying with anti-money laundering (AML)...more
4/7/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration ,
Virtual Currency
What in the world is happening with enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)? And what does the recent executive order (EO) and Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance mean for U.S. and global companies? Our view...more
2/13/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Trump Administration ,
White Collar Crimes
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that initiates the process of designating certain drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. The executive order is primarily focused on...more
2/3/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cartels ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Know Your Customers ,
Mexico ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Terrorist Organizations ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
On September 23, 2024, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Criminal Division announced significant changes to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“ECCP”), which prosecutors use in assessing the effectiveness of...more
10/18/2024
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Machine Learning ,
Mergers ,
Risk Management ,
Speak-up Cultures ,
Whistleblower Awards
Earlier this year, as described in a previous client alert, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Criminal Division announced a landmark pilot program to pay monetary awards to whistleblowers (the “Program”). At that time, Deputy...more
8/9/2024
/ Asset Recovery ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FEPA ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Incentives ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
On March 18, 2024, Ismail Ramsey (“Ramsey”), the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California (“NDCA”), announced the launch of NDCA Whistleblower Pilot Program (the “Pilot Program”), a significant new policy that...more
On March 7, 2024, Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Lisa Monaco announced a new Department of Justice (“DOJ”) pilot program to pay whistleblower rewards (“the Program”) for individuals who report corporate misconduct. As the...more
On January 10, 2024, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”), announced the launch of the SDNY Whistleblower Pilot Program (the “Pilot Program”), a significant new policy that...more
On November 28–30, 2023, the American Conference Institute’s 40th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), held in Washington, D.C., brought together prosecutors, regulators, corporate...more
12/6/2023
/ Clawbacks ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Remediation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
White Collar Crimes
Since September 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ” or “the Department”) has made a number of announcements signaling notable changes to its U.S. corporate enforcement policies. These changes include key revisions to...more
On March 3, 2023, Assistant Attorney General (“AAG”) Kenneth Polite, Jr. announced new guidance issued by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Criminal Division intended to encourage companies to implement compensation policies...more
On March 3, 2023, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite announced significant revisions to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Criminal Division’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“ECCP”) specifically focused...more
3/9/2023
/ Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ,
Compliance ,
Data Preservation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Communications ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Mobile Apps ,
Regular Business Communications ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
WeChat ,
WhatsApp ,
Workplace Communication
The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines”) provide federal courts with a framework for sentencing criminal defendants based on the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s criminal history. While the Guidelines are...more
On January 17, 2023, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. (“AAG Polite”) announced several key revisions to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement Policy (the “CEP”) governing...more
Happy New Year! While the holidays hopefully provided a chance to rest and recharge, things have not slowed down in the world of digital asset enforcement. We see a growing dedication of resources by government law...more
1/13/2023
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FDIC ,
FinCEN ,
Fraud ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Wire Fraud
Well, it was another quiet month in crypto . . . Not. We are still watching the tsunami play out in real time, as governments and the crypto market react to another seismic shift in the crypto landscape....more
12/8/2022
/ Asset Seizure ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Convictions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
NYDFS ,
OCC ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
It certainly feels like a race between innovation and enforcement these days, with regulators and law enforcement stepping up the cautionary rhetoric and promising broader enforcement aimed at corporate actors....more
11/4/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDIC ,
FHFA ,
FinCEN ,
NCUA ,
OCC ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
U.S. Treasury
Since his election, President Joe Biden has loudly reaffirmed U.S. ambitions in the fight against global corruption, domestically and abroad.
Thus, in June 2021 the “Biden memorandum” declared the fight against...more
11/3/2022
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DPA ,
Electronic Communications ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Investigations ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Security ,
Third-Party ,
WhatsApp
We knew there would be plenty to write about each month, and so we start with a mention of the White House’s Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets, issued on September 16, 2022....more
10/4/2022
/ CFTC ,
CID ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SAR ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unregistered Securities
Greetings, and thank you for taking a look at our new monthly crypto enforcement newsletter. Our goal is to share five topics each month that we believe are of significance in the world of crypto enforcement—particularly as...more
9/7/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
CEOs ,
Certifications ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
FinCEN ,
MSB ,
NYDFS ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Virtual Currency
Discussion with two former senior prosecutors on how to handle cases involving Japanese multinational corporations -
It is not unusual for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate non-U.S. multinational corporations...more
7/26/2022
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Board of Directors ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Executives ,
Corporate Monitoring ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Japan ,
Multinationals ,
Patriot Act ,
Recidivism ,
Virtual Currency ,
Webinars ,
White Collar Crimes
This communication constitutes the first of our series considering the U.S. enforcement trends relating to Chinese companies. This communication focuses on how the end of the China Initiative does not signal any change in the...more