In a growing trend, the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted two corporate executives and two licensed pharmacists for drug distribution. This is the second time in 2019 that DOJ acted to hold opioid distributors and manufacturers criminally liable for contributing to the drug crisis.… Continue Reading
The Italian Government recently approved a bill known as the Spazzacorrotti, or “Bribe Destroyer.” The anti-establishment Movimento 5 Stelle, or Five Star Movement, which took office after campaigning to tackle bribery, has been championing the bill as a “revolution in the fight against corruption” that would allegedly save the country billions of euros. However, the same … Continue Reading
His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has decreed various updates to Federal Law No. 3 of 1987, known as the UAE Penal Code, that bring the country’s bribery and corruption legislation positively into line with other regimes in other jurisdictions.… Continue Reading
Anti-corruption has been a hot topic in Russia for some time. But recently, the Russian government has begun to take creative approaches in the fight against corruption. These initiatives are aimed at raising public awareness of corruption among the general public. What appears to be missing in this outreach is compliance guidance to companies in … Continue Reading
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) recently announced the creation of a new list of sanctioned parties specific to foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”). The Correspondent Account of Payable-Through Account Sanctions (the “CAPTA List”) identifies FFIs that are prohibited or severely restricted from opening or maintaining a U.S. correspondent account.… Continue Reading
The case against Leonid Teyf, a Russian citizen, in a federal court in North Carolina has enough juicy facts for an international crime novel. The U.S. prosecutors need evidence to convict Teyf and his accomplices of the central charges, stemming from an alleged kickback scheme in Russia. Will Russia provide missing links?… Continue Reading
Russia continues its anticorruption efforts in 2019. These efforts build upon numerous convictions last year. In January 2019, despite the two-week public winter break, two significant cases developed. Beyond seeking additional convictions, the Russian government will implement public anticorruption outreach this year.… Continue Reading
The Indian Parliament amended the Prevention of Corruption Act (“POCA”) on July 19, 2018. This legislation marks an important step for India towards checking political graft. Below are some highlights of the changes.… Continue Reading
The UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act signifies major changes to the UK’s anti-money laundering and sanctions regimes. Britain’s overseas territories, often criticized as tax havens, are now required to establish public registries of beneficial corporate ownership by December 31, 2020. The Act also includes a Magnitsky Amendment, modeled on U.S. law, enabling sanctions against … 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
This month, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who served from 2009 to 2018 as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister, pleaded not guilty to three new money-laundering charges related to the alleged multibillion-dollar looting of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”), a Kuala Lumpur-based strategic development company that is wholly owned by the Malaysian Ministry of Finance. The … Continue Reading
A recent landmark change to Singapore’s criminal justice system providing for Deferred Prosecution Agreements (“DPAs”), or voluntary alternatives to adjudication, should increase corporate accountability for acts of bribery, corruption, and money laundering.… Continue Reading
South Africa’s regulator, the Financial Intelligence Centre (“FIC”), oversees receipt and analysis of financial intelligence as well as its dissemination. FIC recently released a booklet that provides “insight on some of the methods criminals use to abuse the financial system.” The booklet provides nine different case studies, including one about rhinoceros poaching.… Continue Reading
In the first part of this two-part post, we looked at some of the infamous cases that may explain repeated attempts by Theresa May, first as Home Secretary and later as Prime Minister, to dismantle the SFO, see here. Our attentions now turn to the important role the SFO continues to play in combatting corruption, … Continue Reading
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) recently received an unexpected, yet significant, increase in baseline funding for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. The funding boost comes in spite of Prime Minister Theresa May’s previous efforts, following several high-profile prosecutorial setbacks for the SFO, to fold it into the UK’s National Crime Agency (“NCA”). Relatedly, a new … Continue Reading
In line with its Sanctioning Guidelines, the World Bank recently debarred four companies for corporate misconduct in countries across Southern Asia. Debarment excludes the companies temporarily from bidding on World Bank-financed contracts and effectively prevents them from accessing World Bank financing.… Continue Reading
In part two of our series on Mexico’s anticorruption legislation, we take a closer look at both the 2016 amendments to the Federal Criminal Code and the compliance provisions of the General Law of Administrative Responsibility as these laws apply to legal entities. Although these amendments are generally discussed separately, we believe that these laws, … Continue Reading
As a tsunami of corruption scandals devastates Latin America’s political landscape, it can be easy to dismiss the slow and uncertain steps many countries are taking in the fight against corruption as political jujitsu, enough to appease but not to change. We do not, and we remain optimistic as Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Argentina and – … Continue Reading
The first designations of individuals and entities sanctioned pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (“Global Magnitsky”) are expected shortly. Congress enacted Global Magnitsky in late 2016, authorizing the President to seize property from and deny visas to: Foreign parties responsible for gross human rights violations committed against individuals who seek to promote … Continue Reading
The United Kingdom’s National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing in October 2015 identified three priority risks faced by the UK and concluded that a more robust enforcement response is required. These changes were to be underpinned by a partnership between the government and the private sector to effect a significant change in … Continue Reading
In June 2017 the French data protection authority, the CNIL, published a revised norm for reporting systems ( “AU-004”) that will permit the implementation of the changes recently introduced by the new French Anti-corruption Law “Sapin II” (as set out in our previous article “New French Anti-corruption Law Sapin II”). To read more about the change … Continue Reading
At the end of 2016, after having undergone the scrutiny of the French constitutional court, French Law n° 2016-1691 of 9 December 2016, also known as “Sapin II” after the Finance and Economy Minister behind it, was finally enacted. It will, amongst other things, strengthen French anti-corruption regulations and has been hailed as a “game-changer”. … Continue Reading
Since being elected in 2010, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has been trying to have Colombia become a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As part of this endeavor, in January 2011, Colombia formally applied to become a participant of the Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions (the “Working … Continue Reading
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has published new guidance on the presence of lawyers at section 2 interviews in criminal investigations conducted under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987, typically with potential witnesses. The SFO guidance follows the decision of R (Lord and Others) v SFO[1], in which it was ruled that the … Continue Reading
