It has now been 20 years since the historic collapse of WorldCom, Inc. (“WorldCom” or the “Company”). A review of the WorldCom collapse yields some continuing lessons for corporate counsel....more
I continue my series on why I believe that compliance is at the ‘Tipping Point’ with a discussion of the Volkswagen (VW) emissions-testing scandal and its effect on the greater compliance world. Myself and many other...more
This article addresses the liability of inside attorneys at asset management companies— mutual fund sponsors, investment advisers, broker-dealers, life insurance companies—as gatekeepers under rules of the US Securities and...more
As we come to the close of the Obama Administration, the Justice Department will certainly be able to point to its record of aggressive white-collar enforcement in a variety of areas. One glaring claim omission from that list...more
On this day in 1876 one of the greatest failures in risk management took place when Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his entire 7th Cavalry were wiped out at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Custer had split...more
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”) was enacted following the accounting scandals of the early 2000s involving Enron, WorldCom and other public companies. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and...more
This month I have chosen a couple of topics that most of us come across at some time in our career. The toxic culture – being in an organisation that clearly has little or no moral compass....more