The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quietly released updated guidance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) before the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Entitled A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Second Edition[1] (“Guide”), the Guide is the first update to the original document published … Continue Reading
On June 1, 2020, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Criminal Division released an update to its “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” guidance for federal prosecutors, its first change since April 2019. Although the update did not fundamentally alter the structure of the guidance, the revisions directly impact how companies should assess and monitor their compliance … Continue Reading
As business slowly and cautiously reopens, cybercriminals lie in wait. A case study into a massive unemployment insurance fraud shows that cybercriminals patiently hunt for lucrative opportunities to strike. For that reason, companies reopening should consider conducting a cyber-audit to identify their cyber vulnerabilities and thwart cybercriminals lying in wait.… Continue Reading
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have taken legal actions to combat fraud arising out of the COVID-19 health emergency. DOJ Restraining Order On March 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Western Division of Texas issued a temporary restraining order to halt a predatory wire fraud scheme … Continue Reading
In 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal regulators continued to emphasize the importance of effective compliance programs, self-disclosure of violations of the law and cooperation with regulators during investigations. In a new client alert out this week, we shed light on some of the updated guidance from various government agencies released last year, landmark state and … Continue Reading
The U.S. government relies upon whistleblowers to drive its recoveries under the False Claims Act. See our analysis here of how the Act’s qui tam provisions work, especially in healthcare, by Colin Jennings, Marisa Darden, and Ayako Hobbs.… Continue Reading
The ongoing Iran-US tensions, and potential for retaliatory cyberattacks, alert each organization to prepare to defend against a cyberattack. Iran has a history of sophisticated cyberattacks in response to increased tensions. In a new client alert, our Data Privacy & Cybersecurity team recommends a thorough review of your people, facilities, networks, and data procedures in response … Continue Reading
Responding effectively to a data breach requires an organization to obtain a thorough forensic report about what happened and why. Yet this report can damage the company further if it becomes public inadvertently. Members of our cross-practice data protection team discuss how to protect a forensic report under privilege. The insights of Leah Parsons, Ericka Johnson, and Colin Jennings can be found here. A related … Continue Reading
On May 31, 2019, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas announced a $250,000 settlement with Coffey Health System, after two whistleblowers filed qui tam suit against Coffey for violations of the False Claims Act. The settlement resolved allegations that Coffey submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid pursuant to the Electronic Health Records … Continue Reading
Five months after Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary of the US Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, presented five of the hallmarks of an effective sanctions compliance program, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has finally published long-awaited guidance for national and international organizations subject to its regulation (the Framework). OFAC is the organization responsible for administering and enforcing US economic … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an update to its earlier guidance on how the DOJ will evaluate the effectiveness of a company’s corporate compliance program. The updated compliance guideline (“Updated Guidance”) is twice the length of the original, and utilizes a more instructive approach, serving as a roadmap to prosecutors, and prudent companies. Although … Continue Reading
On October 26, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that will, among other initiatives, allow CMS to recover higher dollar amounts of improper payments made to Medicare Advantage. To read more about this ruling and what it might mean for you, click here to read a recent Squire Patton … Continue Reading
The Second Circuit issued its judgment on the case we have been monitoring, U.S. v. Hoskins. The court held that the “government may not expand the extraterritorial reach of the FCPA by recourse to the conspiracy and complicity statutes.”… Continue Reading
In late 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein announced a revised FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy to be incorporated into the United States Attorneys’ Manual. With this revised policy, the Department of Justice (DOJ) aims to provide a level of certainty to companies in order to encourage voluntary disclosures of potential violations of the FCPA.… Continue Reading
Summary of Compliance Guideline The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) has released guidance on how the DOJ will determine the effectiveness of a company’s corporate compliance program. The guidance, entitled Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs[1] (the “Compliance Guideline”), provides examples of topics and sample questions that are frequently … Continue Reading
