On Friday, March 3, 2023, the DOJ released its updated Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, which included new guidance on ephemeral messaging platforms and other issues. This new guidance was released contemporaneously with Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr.’s (‘Polite”) speech at the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) 38th Annual National Institute on White Collar … Continue Reading
At last week’s American Bar Association’s 38th Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, both Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. provided additional insight into the DOJ’s continued focus on corporate criminal enforcement. Our previous blog post details the expansion of DOJ’s National Security Division and the … Continue Reading
On March 2, 2023, the Department of Justice announced several new initiatives that prioritize the investigation and enforcement of economic sanctions evasion, export control violations, and similar economic crimes. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a “surge of resources to address a troubling trend: the intersection of corporate crime and national security.” In particular, DOJ’s … Continue Reading
On February 22, 2023, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the new United States Attorneys’ Offices Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (“VSD Policy”). Following on the heels of the Criminal Division’s revised Corporate Enforcement Policy, the VSD Policy was also developed in response to the “Monaco Memo,” which directed each component of the DOJ that prosecutes corporate … Continue Reading
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced the creation of a “Disruptive Technology Strike Force.” The strike force will be co-led by DOJ’s National Security Division and Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, with support from 14 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in 12 major metropolitan areas across the … Continue Reading
On January 17, 2023, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division (“AAG”) Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. announced significant revisions to the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, corporate criminal enforcement policy (“CEP”).[1] The new CEP changes offer additional incentives to companies for voluntary self-disclosures, cooperation, and remediation. The new CEP reflects an increased emphasis on … Continue Reading
In an onstage interview at the American Conference Institute’s 39th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act David Last, Chief of the FCPA Unit of Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section, and David Fuhr, the Unit’s Assistant Chief, reflected on the year’s most pressing enforcement issues. Acknowledging that 2022 had been difficult for DOJ’s … Continue Reading
As 2022 comes to a close, is it possible to predict a trend for corporate and white-collar enforcement by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2023? Yes: enforcement will increase in 2023, and it will increase yet more in 2024. Understanding the Department as a dispersed, human institution that responds to incentives explains why.… Continue Reading
On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DoJ”) issued a report on The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets (the “Report”), which will have a significant and wide-ranging impact on the U.S. government’s ability to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt crimes involving digital assets. The … Continue Reading
On September 15, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced updated guidelines for the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) corporate criminal enforcement in a speech at New York University Law School. Monaco previously announced in October 2021 that DOJ would take a tougher stance on white collar crime. Shortly thereafter, Monaco formed an advisory group … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Justice announced late last year that it would utilize the False Claims Act, the U.S. government’s primary civil tool to redress false claims for federal funds and property, to bring actions against U.S. government contractors and subcontractors who do not meet the cybersecurity requirements of a particular contract or grant. The … 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
President Biden has signed his long-awaited Executive Order on digital assets (“Executive Order”). The Executive Order, titled Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, does not announce any new regulations for the digital asset industry. Instead, the Executive Order mandates federal agencies to take a unified approach to developing specific policy recommendations for a comprehensive regulatory … Continue Reading
On January 21, 2022, the Department of Justice issued an opinion applying the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to a Hollywood movie-like factual scenario relating to extortion and duress. The opinion is one of two FCPA opinions published within the last two years. Before those two opinions, DOJ had not published one since 2014. Publication of … Continue Reading
On February 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the end of an initiative to prioritize suspected Chinese economic espionage. The intent of the initiative was to prevent China’s intelligence apparatus from stealing U.S. technology, specifically from research institutions and universities. However, DOJ National Security Division Chief Matthew Olsen stated the initiative “fueled … Continue Reading
In 1996, President Clinton signed the Economic Espionage Act (the “Act”). At the time, the principal proponents of the law included business leaders from the then burgeoning Silicon Valley as well as from the aerospace industry. Proponents of the Act claimed foreign entities were actively attempting to steal trade secrets and that the existing laws … Continue Reading
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced its largest ever health care fraud and opioid enforcement action. In a coordinated effort, DOJ charged 345 defendants with more than $6 billion in fraud losses for submitting false and fraudulent claims to federal health care programs and private insurers.… Continue Reading
Two U.S. authorities recently announced actions against four individuals and numerous entities associated with BitMEX, an online trading platform for futures contracts and other derivative products tied to the value of cryptocurrencies. Both actions allege that BitMEX failed to put in place required anti-money laundering programs and procedures, and serve as a reminder that institutions … Continue Reading
Every organization is at risk of a data breach, and can learn something from Uber’s data privacy missteps. In an article for Corporate Compliance Insights, Squire Patton Boggs lawyers Colin Jennings, Ericka Johnson, and Dylan Yépez offer key takeaways from the company’s high-profile data breaches and the criminal charges that followed.… Continue Reading
A New York federal judge recently held that a foreign bank could not challenge U.S. federal criminal jurisdiction prior to arraignment. US Allegation Halkbank is a Turkish majority state-owned bank. The United States alleged that Halkbank developed an illicit scheme comprised “of fraudulent transactions intended to deceive U.S. regulators and foreign banks” through which the … Continue Reading
Information about an expedited procedure for obtaining guidance about the permissibility of certain collaborations between competitors, which have the effect of protecting Americans’ health and safety, was set forth in a joint statement issued March 24, 2020, by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (the Statement). The Statement … Continue Reading
With governments around the world injecting trillions of dollars into the global economy to prevent a financial catastrophe, the first priority for companies is to figure out how to take advantage of the various stimulus packages to save themselves. This is not the time to take the money and run, however.… Continue Reading
Joseph “Jody” Hunt, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, provided a glimpse of current civil enforcement priorities of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Speaking at the Federal Bar Association’s annual Qui Tam Conference on February 27, 2020, Hunt pledged that DOJ would pursue qui tam cases involving nursing homes, Medicare Advantage plans, and electronic … Continue Reading
On February 26, 2020, Judge Janet Bond Arterton, a federal judge for the District of Connecticut, overturned a former Alstom SA executive’s conviction under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) relating to a project to build power plants in Indonesia. Judge Arterton found that, despite a jury verdict to the contrary, prosecutors failed to prove … Continue Reading
