All Anti-Bribery articles – Page 11
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Blog
Study: CCOs Struggle to Navigate Anti-Bribery Risks
A new report from Compliance Week and Kroll Advisory Solutions gauged the level of confidence chief compliance officers have in their companies’ financial controls to catch books-and-records violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; according to the study, only 48 percent felt confident. See inside for more study details.
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Brit Banking Regulators Wield Attestation More Often
Deutsche Bank paid $345 million to British regulators for its role in the LIBOR scandal, $153 million of that stemming from a false attestation the bank submitted about its internal controls. Those attestations are emerging as a potent tool for the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. “This case sends a strong ...
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Anti-Corruption Compliance Improves in Defense Sector
Image: A new Transparency International report examining anti-corruption measures in the defense sector holds both good and bad news: Many defense companies have improved their ethics and anti-corruption compliance programs; plenty more still have lots to do. “It is clear that many companies in the industry are paying closer attention ...
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Throwing Books & Records at ’Em
Image: Compliance officers responsible for accurate books and records and effective internal control over financial reporting may be entering a brave new world of regulatory enforcement. The SEC is stepping up its use of administrative proceedings to impose strict liability on even relatively minor infractions of securities law. “The SEC ...
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Far East: The Epicenter of FCPA Enforcement?
Image: Everyone says bribery risk is highest along the Pacific Rim, but how acute is the problem really? Pretty bad, according to a Compliance Week review of recent FCPA enforcement actions—and the risks will only increase as more U.S. companies enter Asia and more Asian companies tap U.S. capital markets. ...
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Blog
Ukraine Anti-Corruption Law Requires Compliance Officers
The Ukraine has enacted a new law that applies to almost all companies participating in public tenders and state-owned enterprises over a certain size, requiring them to have in place a compliance program. The law further requires companies to appoint a compliance officer with responsibility for implementing the compliance program. ...
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Blog
China Targets Medical Device Companies in Bribery Probe
Chinese regulators are investigating several foreign medical device companies over suspicions that they may have bribed hospitals in exchange for sales. Regulators launched a preliminary investigation last year into the Chinese healthcare units of U.S.-based General Electric, Amsterdam-based Royal Philips, and Germany-based Siemens AG. Details inside.
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Blog
SNC-Lavalin General Counsel to Depart
SNC-Lavalin announced this month that Réjean Goulet will be retiring from his position as general counsel after a 30-year career with the embattled engineering-and-construction company, effective in July. Jean-Éric Laferrière, currently senior vice president of legal affairs, will serve as interim general counsel while the company conducts a worldwide search ...
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Blog
TI Index Shows Anti-Corruption Improvements in Defense Sector
A new anti-corruption index examining anti-corruption measures in the defense sector reveals some good news: many defense companies are increasingly addressing corruption risks, with improvement evident in companies from every region of the world. The results show significant improvement overall,” said Transparency International, which last issued its index in 2012. ...
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Whistleblower Laws Abroad Remain Weak and Untested
Image: What whistleblower protections exist overseas that are comparable to those under the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts? Compliance Week did a spot-check of major countries, and the results of our round-the-world tour are inside. “There’s no country in the world whose whistleblower protection laws come close to what we’ve developed ...
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Blog
TI Report Urges Southeast Asia to Make Anti-Corruption a Priority
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are not doing nearly enough to address corruption at the national level, warns a new report by Transparency International. In its report, TI recommended that ASEAN form an ASEAN Integrity Community to fast track anti-corruption policy measures and further recommended four targeted ...
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Cleaning Up FCPA Cases That Spill Into Litigation
Image: Companies under investigation for possible violations of the FCPA have more than enforcement action to worry about; they must be prepared to fend off shareholder lawsuits as well. That requires some careful strategy about how to investigate FCPA allegations and document them. “I can’t tell you how often I ...
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Blog
Bilfinger Probe Uncovers Bribery Related to World Cup
German-based engineering company Bilfinger said that an internal investigation has uncovered potential bribery payments made to government officials in Brazil for contracts related to the 2014 World Cup. After launching an internal investigation into the allegations last year, “suspicions have now been substantiated,” Bilfinger said. Details inside.
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Blog
OECD: Greece Must Focus More on Foreign Bribery
The risk of Greek companies bribing foreign officials is substantial, and yet Greece has not given the same priority to fighting foreign bribery as it has to domestic corruption, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Phase 3bis Report on Greece." The repor examines issues that the Working ...
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Blog
Swiss AG Freezes $400 Million in Petrobras-Related Assets
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) is currently conducting nine investigations in the Petrobras case and has issued an order freezing USD$400 million in assets deposited in Switzerland in connection with the
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Blog
Justice Department Extends Biomet DPA
The Department of Justice will extend for an additional year a deferred-prosecution agreement reached in 2012 with Biomet, after the medical device maker self-reported additional potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The three-year DPA, which would have expired March 26, 2015, will now expire on March 26, 2016. ...
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Petrobras Probe Portends Brazil Enforcement Crackdown
Image: Suddenly anti-corruption enforcement seems to be serious in Brazil—to the point that businesses working there might want to pay more heed to enforcement risks from Brazilian regulators themselves. The catalyst is the sweeping investigation into state-owned oil company Petrobras, riveting Brazil this month. “We can expect much more enforcement ...
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Blog
SEC’s Ceresney: Common FCPA Violations in Pharma Industry
Image: From remarks last week at a conference in Washington D.C., SEC Director of Enforcement Andrew Ceresney highlighted three types of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act misconduct that most often arise in the pharmaceutical industry: pay-to-prescribe, formulary drugs, and charitable contributions. More of Ceresney’s observations are inside.
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Blog
Akamai Self-Reports FCPA Probe
Akamai Technologies disclosed in its annual report with the SEC that it is conducting an internal investigation related to potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The cloud services provider said it voluntarily reported the internal investigation to the SEC and Department of Justice last month. Details inside.
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Canada Gets Serious on Enforcement
Canadian securities regulators for the first time are proposing a whistleblower rewards program, modeled after the SEC’s program created by the Dodd-Frank Act. The proposed initiative is the latest move by Canadian authorities toward a U.S.-style enforcement regime—and in some instances an even harsher one. “Canadian enforcement is going to ...