All articles by Tom Fox – Page 26
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EU Privacy Shield hits snag
Somehow, U.S. and EU officials find themselves with a Privacy Shield proposal that both goes too far, and yet, not far enough. The Man From FCPA Tom Fox has more.
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Unaoil-Can things get any bigger?
The Justice Department and SEC have their work cut out for them, says FCPA blogger Tom Fox, as the Monaco-based Unaoil scandal—in which the company used commissions to bribe clients—may be the biggest corruption enforcement action yet.
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Theranos and compliance
One of the most compelling business stories over the past 18 months or so has been that of the Theranos, the developer of a perhaps revolutionary blood testing system, which allegedly allow testing of blood with such a small amount a person would only need their finger pricked. No longer ...
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The other cleat drops in the FIFA corruption probe
Image: The FIFA corruption probe has shifted to U.S. corporations that did business with FIFA, regional soccer federations, and national soccer organizations, prompting some companies, including Nike, DirectTV, and Standard Chartered, to start their own internal investigations. The message is quite clear for those U.S. companies with affiliations to soccer ...
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What does the controversial pay raise for BP’s CEO mean for compliance?
Image: What are the implications of CEO pay during an economic downturn for your compliance program? In this piece, the Man From FCPA Tom Fox explores that question in the context of BP’s recent pay raise given to Bob Dudley, who, as CEO, laid off thousands of employees and saw ...
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New Justice Department guidance and FCPA Pilot Program
When the DoJ speaks, chief compliance officers should listen—especially when the talks center on enforcement. The agency has launched a pilot program for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement that details three areas of self-disclosure to be required by companies going forward. If a company meets all three areas, it could ...
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Will Olympus see FCPA trouble in China?
Trouble seems to follow Japan-based Olympus. The company, which admitted in 2011 to a $1.7 billion accounting fraud, is once again facing corruption allegations. Olympus hired China-based Anyuanto to help turn it around, despite the fact that Anyuan’s chairman had previously been convicted of fraud; Olympus’ contract wasn’t with Anyuan ...
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The Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick Maker … in Cuba, they are all covered under the FCPA
The winds of change are coming to Cuba, and U.S. businesses are slowly, but surely, beginning to get their long-awaited opportunities to set up shop in one of the world’s last truly socialist states. But this brings with it a most unusual FCPA liability that makes doing business in Cuba ...
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FCPA enforcement ramps up in Q1 2016
If it looks like FCPA enforcement is at a low ebb, judging by the amount of activity we saw in 2015, don’t be fooled. The SEC is prosecuting FCPA cases with vigor, and if some of the current enforcement actions underway are any indicator, we will not see a significant ...
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Brazilian corruption investigation goes supernova
As billionaire construction magnate Marcelo Odebrecht prepares to turn state’s evidence in the corruption investigation that covers Petrobras, Odebrecht SA, and the Brazilian presidency itself, it seems that we might finally get some insight on just how pervasive Brazil’s so-called “cartel of corruption” really was. Is anybody ready to ...
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German World Cup bid now under FIFA scrutiny
The ongoing FIFA corruption scandal takes on new life as some of the top names in German soccer, as well as sports apparel manufacturer Adidas, appear to be implicated in the 2006 World Cup bid. CW’s Tom Fox reports on this latest ethics investigation.
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Is Venezuela’s state oil company creating the next Petrobras scandal?
While Petrobras currently holds the title as the most corrupt national energy company in South America, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) is a strong contender as well, thanks to ongoing U.S. investigations into possible FCPA violations involving U.S. companies, Swiss banks, and corrupt PDVSA officials.
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Is FIFA entitled to restitution as a victim?
Image: It appears the Fédération Internationale de Football Association is trying to shed its corrupt image in favor of playing the victim. The international governing body of football has asked the Justice Department for its share of monies it obtains through forfeiture and penalties from individuals prosecuted around the FIFA ...
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Weekends are for ... fraud?
The recent $101M heist from the Central Bank of Bangladesh would have been impossible had it not occurred over a weekend, and had weekends themselves not been observed on different days of the week in Bangladesh than they are in the United States. One thing’s for sure: Whenever the weekend ...
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Petrobras fallout into the private sector continues
A 19-year prison sentence handed down in connection with Brazil’s widening “Car Wash” scandal is a wake-up call for any company that has done business with Odebrecht SA, the largest construction company in Brazil and, indeed, South America. The scandal, which began with energy firm Petrobras, should enforce that it’s ...
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VimpelCom and the conscious indifference of a board under the FCPA
Image: The joint Justice Dept., SEC settlement with telecom giant VimpelCom resolving a longstanding FCPA violation will cost the company more than $795 million, say reports. But there’s a bright side, says CW Columnist Tom Fox. The multiple bribery schemes seem to have been supported by top management and will ...
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Customers and corruption risks
What is the cost of corruption? How much due diligence must you perform with those entities that are your customers? Does doing business with companies that have a propensity for corruption put your company at risk? In light of the scandals at Petrobras and Houston-based ENSCO, companies might want to ...
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BlogHow Qualcomm’s FCPA blunder involved rank incompetency
Hiring the son or daughter of a government official to secure a lucrative business contract is clearly out of bounds. But hiring somebody who was specifically rejected from an interview process as being unfit for the job in question, a scenario recently played out at Qualcomm and its China-based operations ...
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Run, don't walk, from CEO conflicts of interest
On March 2, Aubrey McClendon—founder and CEO of American Energy Partners, and co-founder, CEO, and chairman of Chesapeake Energy—died in a fiery one-person car crash, where it appears he deliberately drove his vehicle into a concrete barrier around a highway overpass. This car accident occurred the day after he was ...
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Petrobras refinery explosion reveals poor compliance of a different kind
When corruption-plagued Brazilian energy giant Petrobras overpaid for a Houston-area refinery by some $950 million, it raised more than a few eyebrows. And when that refinery suffered a large explosion and fire recently, it showed that failure to practice good safety and failure to practice good business ethics go hand-in-hand.