SPB’s Keith Bradley authored an article for Bloomberg Law covering a recent SCOTUS decision with significant ramifications: SEC v. Jarkesy. We believe that Jarkesy will decidedly shift the landscape of agency adjudication and regulatory enforcement. For the background and possible implications of this decision, read the full article at Supreme Court’s Jarkesy Ruling Upends SEC … Continue Reading
Congress recently passed the Rebuilding Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians (“REPO”) Act, bipartisan legislation authorizing the Administration to seize billions of dollars in Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine reconstruction and aid. The legislation raises issues that could have political and legal consequences – for companies and individuals. Join members of the firm’s Policy and … Continue Reading
On March 7, 2024, US Deputy Attorney General, Lisa O. Monaco announced the development of a new “DOJ-run whistleblower rewards program” during her speech at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime.[1] The announcement signals “a 90-day sprint to develop and implement a pilot program, with a formal start date later this … Continue Reading
Courts around the country continue to disagree on the causation standard to be applied in False Claims Act cases based on alleged Anti-Kickback Statute violations. Two recent federal district court decisions out of the District of Massachusetts add to differing conclusions on what the causation standard should be, i.e., “but-for,” “exposure,” or some other, less … Continue Reading
FinCEN’s beneficial ownership reporting rule takes effect on January 1, 2024. This rule requires certain entities to file with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) reports that identify two categories of individuals: the beneficial owners of the entity, and individuals who have filed an application with specified governmental authorities to … Continue Reading
On March 1, 2023, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) demonstrated continued interest in investigating insider trading by company executives who possess material non-public information when they unsealed an indictment and filed a civil complaint, respectively, in the Central District of California. Though a Rule 10b5-1 plan—an investment device … Continue Reading
We previously offered insight into two False Claims Act (“FCA”) enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) as part of its “Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative” (“CCF Initiative”). Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced the CCF Initiative in October 2021, stating that “[t]he initiative will hold accountable entities or individuals that put U.S. … Continue Reading
On January 24, 2023, the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) assessed a second-tier[1] civil penalty of $2.3 million against New York-based Popular Bank (or the “Bank”) for unsafe and unsound practices related to six Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans. According to the FRB, the Bank processed and funded these loans despite detecting significant indicia of fraud … Continue Reading
About this time last year, we offered some insight on Economic Espionage and Theft of Trade Secrets, which included a primer on economic espionage, case examples, and avoidance strategies. We observed that “[w]hile the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has identified China, Russia, and Iran as the three states most capable of committing … Continue Reading
The United States may prosecute foreign fraudsters using U.S. wires when their entirely foreign-based schemes use U.S. wires to victimize persons in the United States. That is the conclusion we draw from the Fourth Circuit’s decision in United States v Elbaz. The Elbaz court joined the Ninth Circuit in holding that the wire-fraud statute’s focus … Continue Reading
The author and editors would like to thank Eben Kurtz for his contributions to this post. On 21 April 2022, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) secured its first Account Forfeiture Order (“AFO”), a tool used for asset recovery under Part 5 of Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (”POCA”), for a sum of £2,000,000 against … Continue Reading
The Wolfsberg Group, an association of thirteen global banks which develops frameworks and guidance for the management of financial crime risks, particularly with respect to KYC, AML, and CFT policies, recently released a set of frequently asked questions on negative news screening and other forms of adverse information searches. Negative news screening can assist financial … Continue Reading
Thanks to our Summer Associate, Apollo Yong, for his work on this timely blog. On June 6, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”), requesting public comment on questions related to FinCEN’s implementation of a no-action letter process.[1] … Continue Reading
President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) into law in December 2021. Beginning on June 21, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a “rebuttable presumption” that all goods originating from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region violate an existing ban on the importation of goods made with forced labor into the … Continue Reading
The proposal outlines 10 possible ways to bolster UK corporate criminal liability. The UK Law Commission, has published their proposals (the Options Paper) to overhaul criminal law as it applies to companies in the UK. The Law Commission is an independent commission created by Parliament to keep UK law under review and to recommend reforms. … Continue Reading
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, which is the authority for implementing financial sanctions in the UK, have published guidance to clarify how they will use their new powers to impose civil monetary penalties for sanctions breaches on a strict liability basis from Monday 15 June 2022. The full message … Continue Reading
On March 2, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the creation of the interagency Task Force KleptoCapture (the “Task Force”) to enforce the sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures against Russian officials and oligarchs in response to the conflict in Ukraine. The Task Force will consist of prosecutors and agents from numerous federal … Continue Reading
I wanted to take a moment to thank WealthBriefing.com for featuring my recent article “What Price Privacy? UK Drive for Foreign Owners’ Transparency”. As the geopolitical landscape evolves and global financial sanctions take hold, the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill introduced into UK law this month is worth reviewing. Will the new legislation prevent … Continue Reading
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (“NDAA”) became law early in 2021, after a congressional override of then-President Trump’s veto. Division F of the NDAA consists of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”). The AMLA expands numerous Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) requirements, and amends the BSA’s definition of “financial institution” to include persons … Continue Reading
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 became law early in 2021, after a congressional override of then-President Trump’s veto. Division F of the NDAA consists of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”). The AMLA expands numerous Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) requirements, and FinCEN has continued to issue guidance, reports, and proposed … Continue Reading
On December 6, 2021, the White House (the “WH”) released the first United States Strategy on Countering Corruption (the “Strategy”) that sets the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals to tackle international corruption. Much of the Strategy remains currently aspirational and requires additional legislative and regulatory action to implement. Still, it signals the direction the Administration is looking … Continue Reading
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently published sanctions compliance guidance for the virtual currency industry (the Guidance). The move was long anticipated, given the rapid industry growth and limited regulator guidance in this space. The Guidance provides an overview of OFAC sanctions requirements and procedures, including … Continue Reading
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (“NDAA”) became law earlier this year, after a congressional override of then-President Trump’s veto. Division F of the NDAA consists of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”). The AMLA expands numerous Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) requirements, and FinCEN has been active in the first sixth … Continue Reading
In this article for the Consumer Privacy World Blog, John Burlingame and Kristin Bryan discuss a recent federal district court decision which calls into question the application of attorney work-product privilege to work-product prepared by consultants in anticipation of litigation.… Continue Reading
