SFO guidance could help companies combat U.K. Bribery Act charges
New internal guidance from the U.K. Serious Fraud Office outlines what the regulator considers in determining if a company’s compliance procedures are adequate enough to defend against U.K. Bribery Act charges or qualify for a deferred prosecution agreement.
ICA announces regulatory and financial crime conference in Dubai
The International Compliance Association will host its inaugural MENA Regulatory and Financial Crime Compliance Conference in Dubai on March 1-2. His Excellency Ebrahim Obaid Al Zaabi, director general, Insurance Authority, will deliver the keynote address.
Samsung establishes compliance oversight committee
Samsung Group has announced its intent to establish a corporate compliance oversight committee as the company seeks to clean up its tarnished reputation following a slew of scandals.
Teva to pay $54M in FCA whistleblower settlement
Teva Pharmaceuticals has reached a $54 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by two whistleblowers over allegations the drug company bribed physicians through numerous “sham” speaker programs in exchange for prescribing Teva drugs.
Landec discloses FCPA probe
Landec, an innovator of health and wellness solutions, has discovered and reported to U.S. regulators a “compliance issue” at its Yucatan Foods production facility in Guanajuato, Mexico. It now faces a government probe into possible FCPA violations
Uber: Fraud Section ends bribery probe
The Department of Justice has closed its investigation into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by ride-sharing company Uber.
Casino operators in Japan must gamble on compliance risks
Japan’s plans to launch a casino industry have been marred recently by a widening bribery scandal that highlights the compliance risks associated with the operation.
Swiss firm, owner face charges in stock manipulation scheme
The SEC and DOJ have separately announced charges against a Swiss asset management firm and several individuals for engaging in a long-running stock manipulation scheme involving numerous U.S. issuers. The charges resulted from a failed attempt to circumvent disclosure requirements imposed by securities laws.
Ex-Nissan chair Carlos Ghosn secretly flees Japan
Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of Japanese automaker Nissan, late last week secretly fled Japan, where he was awaiting trial over allegations of financial misconduct.
Compliance 2020: A timeline
Compliance Week looks back at two decades of scandals, enforcement actions, and regulatory policies (2000-2019) that shaped the compliance function we see today.
Top ethics and compliance failures of 2019
From antitrust and privacy concerns in the tech world to compliance officer liability in the pharmaceutical industry to unethical practices in the banking and accounting professions, more than a dozen companies made Compliance Week’s list of the biggest compliance fails in 2019.
SFO confirms DPA with Güralp Systems after three acquitted
The founder and two former employees of Güralp Systems were acquitted of charges they conspired to bribe a South Korean public official, making it the latest corruption case in which the U.K. Serious Fraud Office failed to secure individual convictions.
Ex-WorldCom CEO released from prison early
Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was granted early release from prison due to deteriorating health. Ebbers had served 13 years of a 25-year sentence for participating in one of the biggest accounting frauds in U.S. history.
SEC bars former Goldman Sachs director over 1MDB scandal
Former Goldman Sachs Group executive Tim Leissner has settled charges brought by the SEC for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. His settlement includes a permanent bar from the securities industry.
Skills crucial to combating terrorist financing
The pernicious strength of terrorism is its element of surprise: Just when you think it’s disappeared, it rears its ugly head. A proven and effective method of preventing it is disrupting the financial networks used to fund it.
WADA mess: Sports regulator’s light touch sends bad compliance message
One of sports’ key enforcement agencies handed out a penalty this week that sent a message no regulator wants to send: Punitive action may only come after the guilty party has already reaped the rewards.
Former FCPA chief’s 7 steps to third-party compliance
Speaking at CW’s Third-Party Risk Management and Oversight Summit, former FCPA Unit chief Kara Brockmeyer called attention to recent enforcement actions against Walmart and Ericsson as a way to highlight seven steps to third-party compliance.
Swedbank announces governance overhaul, launches culture probe
Swedbank CEO Jens Henriksson announced the financial institution is making some major organizational changes “to create simpler and clearer decision-making structures to facilitate the realization of the bank’s strategy.”
SFO latest to investigate Glencore over bribery concerns
Glencore announced it is under investigation by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office over suspicions of bribery, making it the third investigation the multinational commodity trading and mining company is now facing.
Ericsson finalizes $1B FCPA settlement
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has entered a $1 billion settlement with U.S. authorities to resolve a long-running investigation into violations of the FCPA that spanned 17 years and several geographies and involved high-level executives.
EBRD debars GE Power Sweden for record six years in corruption case
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has imposed a record six-year term of debarment on GE Power Sweden concerning a long-running corruption scheme at 2015 acquisition Alstom Power Sweden.
Guide for practitioners: How to effectively monitor anti-corruption compliance
In a guest column for CW, Uber’s senior counsel for global compliance helps to outline a best-in-class compliance monitoring program.
Introducing ‘The Excellence in Compliance Awards’
Compliance Week is making some changes to its annual awards for 2020, evolving the “Top Minds” recognition into a full-blown, specifically targeted awards program dubbed “The Excellence in Compliance Awards.”
Dannenbaum Engineering overhauls compliance; fined $1.6M for campaign contributions
Dannenbaum Engineering and its parent company have agreed to pay a $1.6 million criminal fine for a scheme involving illegal campaign contributions. While the fine might not be significant, the compliance lessons are.
Samsung Heavy Industries to pay $75M in foreign bribery case
Samsung Heavy Industries will pay total criminal penalties of $75.5 million to enforcement authorities in the United States and Brazil to resolve violations arising out of a bribery scheme in Brazil.
Alstom U.K. fined $20.8M for role in long-running bribery case
Alstom Network U.K., the British subsidiary of the French rail and power company, has been ordered to pay a total of £16.4 million (U.S. $20.8 million) for bribes it paid to win a contract to supply trams in Tunisia.
Westpac accused of 23M violations of Australian AML rules
Australia’s financial crime regulator has accused Westpac Banking of committing over 23 million breaches of the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules.
U.S. trending up in new TRACE matrix bribery report
The latest edition of TRACE International’s annual Bribery Risk Matrix shows many of the same countries named in last year’s report are still struggling with business-related bribery risk. One country on the rise: the United States.
Sutter Health pays $30M in lawsuit
Healthcare services provider Sutter Health will pay $30.5 million in a lawsuit filed by a former compliance officer alleging fraud and kickbacks, though Sutter did not admit laibility and points out there was no finding that Sutter violated anti-kickback laws.
Former Herbalife execs charged with FCPA violations
The DOJ has charged two former executives of Herbalife with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for bribing Chinese government officials for over a decade and then trying to cover up the illicit payments.
Alstom exec convicted of FCPA, money-laundering charges
A former Alstom executive was found guilty by a federal jury for his role in a multi-year, multi-million-dollar foreign bribery scheme and related money-laundering scheme in Indonesia.
European Commission probing two retailers for possible collusion
The European Commission announced it has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether two French groups of retailers—Casino Guichard-Perrachon and Les Mousquetaires—have coordinated their conduct in the market in breach of EU competition rules.
Veon’s compliance monitorship comes to an end
Veon, a global provider of connectivity and digital services, has announced a deferred prosecution agreement it entered with the U.S. Department of Justice in February 2016 has concluded.
Time to reassess the meaning of ‘compliance’
Deutsche Bank is just the latest scandal-plagued bank to make headlines, once again, for ignoring sound compliance advice. Maybe it’s time to eliminate the entire concept of compliance altogether, writes an exasperated Jaclyn Jaeger.
Unaoil execs plead guilty for roles in global bribery scheme
The former CEO and chief operations officer of Monaco-based Unaoil have pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme to corruptly facilitate millions of dollars in bribe payments to officials in multiple countries.
DOJ recovers $700M in 1MDB scandal
Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman-turned-fugitive, has agreed to forfeit more than $700 million worth of assets that he and his family allegedly misappropriated from Malaysian’s sovereign-wealth fund, 1MDB.
World Bank Group debars MTZ Equipment for fraud
The World Bank has imposed a 30-month debarment on Canada-based MTZ Equipment for fraudulent practices connected to Afghanistan’s On-Farm Water Management Project.
EY accused in U.K. gold-laundering scheme
Big Four audit firm EY has been accused of covering up evidence of smuggling by an organized crime gang that was laundering British drug money through gold dealings, according to an investigation by the BBC.
Risk management tips from Tullett Prebon compliance woes
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority fined Tullett Prebon (Europe) Limited £15.4 million (U.S. $19.8 million) after its compliance department failed to implement adequate risk management systems.
Compliance lessons from recent nine-figure FCPA settlements
Walmart, TechnipFMC, Fresenius—just to name a few—have all fallen prey to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a record year of jacked-up enforcement and sky-high penalties.
Bill to expose shell companies passes House vote
A proposed bill to crack down on anonymous shell companies passed a House of Representatives vote Tuesday and will progress to the Senate.
The evolution of FCPA enforcement
Compliance Week guest columnist Tom Fox writes about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’s journey from 2012 through today.
EC uses ‘interim measures’ on Broadcom to curb anticompetitive behavior
The European Commission has ordered Broadcom to cut out harsh contract terms with six TV and modem manufacturers because they may infringe antitrust rules. It’s the first time the agency has imposed “interim measures” in 18 years
Labeling employee a ‘compliance risk’ not defamation, says court
A former Biomet Argentina employee—in a bit of FCPA hot water—landed on his company’s restricted persons list, sued for defamation, and lost.
Singapore regulator: Technology creates both challenges, opportunities
The evolution of technology is enabling myriad capabilities for regulatory and financial crime compliance, but it is also presenting complex financial crime risks, according to a representative from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) at the International Compliance Association’s second Asia Pacific (APAC) conference this week in Singapore.
Oxfam slams U.K. supermarkets over worker abuses in supply chains
In an effort to cut costs and raise revenue, U.K. supermarkets are endangering employees with such abuses as a lack of toilets, unsafe drinking water, and illnesses resulting from exposure to pesticides, says a new report from Oxfam.
DOJ contests Eni’s statement concerning corruption case
Calling Eni’s statement “misleading,” the Department of Justice wants to make it clear its corruption inquiry into the Italian oil company was not closed for lack of evidence.
e-Book: FCPA: More Crumble Under Revised DOJ Policy
Violations of anti-corruption laws can have devasting consequences for any company across any industry, if not managed appropriately—including significant fines, reputational damage, and litigation that can span several years—all of which create disruption to business operations.
Bill requiring shell companies to disclose ownership introduced in Senate
Aimed at fighting money laundering, newly proposed legislation looks to mandate full transparency from shell companies on ownership and also fosters greater communication between financial institutions and law enforcement agencies.
Compliance lessons from Quad/Graphics’ $10M FCPA settlement
Quad/Graphics will pay $10 million to resolve SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by engaging in widespread bribery schemes in Peru and China, but the compliance lessons are priceless.