Wicked Coin: The "Fat Leonard" Scandal
Corruption, Crime & Compliance: Deep Dive into The Gunvor FCPA Settlement
Episode 307 -- Sanctions Enforcement Review and Predictions for 2024
Episode 300 -- Deep Dive into DOJ FCPA Settlement with Two U.K. Reinsurance Companies for Bribery in Ecuador
Episode 296 -- Deep Dive into Clear Channels SEC Settlement of FCPA Violations
Episode 294 -- Catch Up on OFAC Enforcement: 3M and Emigrant Bank
The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network: An In-Depth Conversation
Season 2 - Episode 2 - A Whistleblowers Nightmare: The Uncovering of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad Scandal
The Justice Insiders Podcast: Varsity Blues Reversals Turn DOJ Red
Corruption, Crime, and Compliance - The Ericsson FCPA DPA Breach Settlement
Episode 258 -- Deep Dive into ABB FCPA Settlement
Corruption Crime & Compliance - Deep Dive into the ABB FCPA Case
Life with GDPR - The ABB Enforcement Action from a UK Perspective
The Corruption Files - Episode 15 - The ABB Settlement
The Line Between Gift Giving and Bribery
The Corruption Files - Episode 14 - Walmart with Tom Fox and Michael DeBernardis
Compliance Into The Weeds - Lafarge and the Cost of Moral Bankruptcy
The New Cold War: Risk, Sanctions, Compliance Episode 21: "Interview with Drago Kos of the OECD Working Group on Bribery"
The Justice Insiders: FIFA Corruption Trial – Will the Feds Score Another Goal?
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 5 - Doing Business Overseas: The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
I recently spoke with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Handbook authors Robert Tarun and Peter Tomczak from Baker McKenzie for a two-part podcast episode. The depth of knowledge and experience in white-collar crime,...more
On May 10, 2024, Romy Andrianarisoa, former Chief of Staff to the President of Madagascar, was convicted for soliciting bribes from Gemfields Group Ltd (Gemfields), a UK-based mining company specializing in rubies and...more
One of the best examples I have recently seen on the power of data driven compliance is playing out in real time in the NBA. It is the Jontay Porter betting scandal. This event had driven home why transparency, coupled with...more
We are thrilled to introduce the inaugural issue of our quarterly White Collar newsletter, a dedicated resource from Benesch’s White Collar, Government Investigations & Regulatory Compliance Practice Group. Each issue...more
In March 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the resolution of a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action involving the Swiss trading firm G Trafigura Beheer B.V. (Trafigura), an international...more
The Department of Justice’s blockbuster FCPA settlement with Gunvor restores the credibility of DOJ’s pronouncements of DOJ’s commitment to aggressive FCPA enforcement. While I have questioned DOJ’s commitment to its...more
Building on the recent passage of the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), at the American Bar Association’s 2024 National Institute on White Collar Crime conference in San Francisco earlier this month (2024 ABA...more
We continue our exploration of the resolution of the FCPA enforcement action involving the Swiss trading firm Gunvor S.A. The enforcement action came in with a $661 million penalty against the company, which has pleaded...more
FEPA contains a broad prohibition on corrupt activity and applies to a broad category of public officials. First, FEPA makes it unlawful for any foreign official to “demand, seek, receive, accept, or agree to” receive...more
On January 30, 2024, Transparency International (TI) published its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2023. The 2023 CPI suggests there has been limited progress in the global fight against corruption, with TI...more
On December 22, 2023, President Biden signed the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), a new anti-bribery statute long considered as a likely accompaniment to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA). The...more
U.S. companies that do business globally may need to update their compliance training to ensure employees operating in international venues understand new risks. For decades, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has made it...more
This week we are taking a deep dive into the SAP Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action. In it, SAP agreed to pay the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approximately...more
Designed for busy in-house counsel, compliance professionals, and anti-corruption lawyers, this newsletter summarizes some of the most important international anti-corruption law and enforcement developments from the past...more
When it comes to FCPA enforcement and expectations, DOJ has moved the goalposts. Some would argue that DOJ has been consistent all along. The truth, like most issues, lies somewhere between the extremes....more
The Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement record for 2024 was slow. This trend was unexpected, contrary to my own predictions and of various other prognosticators. It is hard to explain why this slowdown occurred....more
While 2023 was a relatively slow year in FCPA enforcement, the DOJ and SEC settlements announced throughout the year set out a list of important ethics and compliance reminders. While these may seem obvious to everyone, I...more
Commercial bribery enforcement also became more active, as the authorities marked the 30th anniversary of the PRC Anti-Unfair Competition Law. The revision of the PRC Anti-Espionage Law raised some concerns about national...more
On December 22, 2023, President Biden signed into law the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) as part of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. FEPA criminalizes demand-side bribery by foreign officials...more
On December 14, 2023, Congress passed the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (“FEPA”) in an effort to address certain deficiencies inherent in the current iteration of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), as part of the...more
2023 was a very significant year for every compliance practitioner and compliance program. While there was a paucity of corporate enforcement actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), there were significant...more
The compliance community has long recognized the gaping hole in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). As a supply side law, it criminalizes the payment of bribes, not the demand to pay a bribe or extortion. The gap was...more
UN Corruption Convention’s Ratification - In October 2003, the General Assembly officially ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (“Corruption Convention”). Since that time, a total of 190 countries have...more
Summary - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has created the International Corporate Anti-Bribery initiative (ICAB), which aims to strengthen the United States’ global efforts in combating corruption through enhanced...more
While the Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated at least two new Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions against U.S. companies, it has also announced several decisions not to prosecute—most recently...more