Tom Fox

Image: A recent Financial Times article says that non-U.S. corruption scandals have outpaced those which are U.S.-centric and, FT points out, the companies at the heart of these scandals fared pretty badly from their own transgressions. Inside, FCPA blogger Tom Fox examines the cases of Volkswagen, whose emissions fraud has caused the company’s share price to drop more than 30 percent; iconic Japanese entity Toshiba’s $1.3 billion accounting scandal; and Swedish company Industrivärden, whose perquisite scandal has decimated the board of directors. All of this and no mention of FIFA. What will 2016 bring?

Image: Social media has certainly changed the way we communicate. Just look at federal securities fraudster Martin Shkreli, known for his extreme social media use, who has continued the practice (not surprisingly) post-arrest. According to the New York Times, Shkreli posts selfie videos “as if the possibility of going to prison were just a bump in the road.” These kinds of cases could bring a new worry for defense attorneys: a client’s use of social media to proclaim innocence and denounce the government—right up until convicted.

Image: You might think in today’s corporate world “tone at the top” would be so well worn that you need not repeat it. Yet, tone at the top apparently did warrant repeating for former FIFA head Sepp Blatter. Earlier this week, Blatter announced he would fight the eight-year suspension placed upon him by FIFA’s ethics committee for his part in the scandal—a part, Blatter maintains, he did not play. During his press conference the outraged exec railed, “I am ashamed that the committee goes against the evidence presented. They have no right!” Um, don’t they?

Image: A recent court ruling found that employees who reported suspected illegal conduct to their employers rather than to the SEC are entitled to the Dodd-Frank Act anti-retaliation protections. The decision, however, conflicts with a prior court decision, where the court refused to give weight to the SEC’s interpretation of the statute or its interplay with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act anti-retaliation provisions. CW FCPA blogger Tom Fox explores the cases and the confusion around determining anti-retaliation protection eligibility.

Sometimes it does not take active bribery or corruption by an individual to violate anti-corruption laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It is one of the few laws which makes illegal consciously avoiding the actual knowledge of the underlying crime.

Image: In theory, U.S. and Swiss authorities are working in tandem to investigate allegations of misconduct by the leaders of the FIFA professional soccer organization. In practice … relations are a bit more complicated, and that leaves the law firm handling FIFA’s internal probe in a difficult spot. CW anti-corruption blogger Tom Fox has more.

Image: FIFA and NFL football are not the only sports mired in ethical controversy any more; now track and field has entered the race. The latest scandals include allegations of rampant doping among Russian athletes, and a clear conflict of interest from the new director of the sport’s oversight body. Our Man From FCPA, Tom Fox, has more.