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DOJ’s Criminal Division Announces Revised Corporate Enforcement Policy

By Kevin McCart, Jerrob Duffy, Kathleen McGovern, Colin Jennings, Sanaa Bayyari and Lauryn Durham on Posted in Department of Justice, Government Investigation, United States, US Department of Justice
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

Analysis of Expected and Recent Developments in Congressional Oversight & Investigations in the 118th Congress

By Kevin McCart on Posted in China, Government Investigation, U.S. Congress, United States
This month, the 118th Congress convened in Washington, D.C., ushering in a return to divided government. Republicans now hold a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, while Democrats have retained their slim Senate majority. With few opportunities likely for bipartisan compromise, Congress is expected to engage in more frequent and more partisan congressional investigations. … Continue Reading

Corporate and White-Collar Enforcement in 2023–24

By Benjamin Glassman, Vipal Patel, Luke Burton and Sanaa Bayyari on Posted in Compliance Program, corporate compliance, COVID-19, Cryptocurrency, cyberattack, cybersecurity, Department of Justice, Industry Investigations, Uncategorized, United States, US Department of Justice
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

Increasing US Enforcement Action for Sanctions Violations by Crypto Exchanges Likely to Have Ripple Effect in UK and Europe

By Hannah Laming, Matthew Kirk and José María Viñals on Posted in Cryptocurrency, Economic sanctions, Middle East, OFAC, Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Sanctions, Sanctions, United Kingdom, United States, US Treasury
The investigation and enforcement of potential sanctions violations by crypto exchanges is an area of focus in the US at present.  The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) recent settlement with Kraken, a global virtual currency exchange, is the most recent OFAC case demonstrating the risks for virtual currency platforms … Continue Reading

OFAC Announces Settlement with Virtual Currency Exchange Kraken

By Elizabeth Profaci on Posted in anti-money laundering, Cryptocurrency, Economic sanctions, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Middle East, OFAC, Sanctions, United States
On November 28, 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a settlement agreement with Payward, Inc., known as Kraken (“Kraken”), a United States-based virtual currency exchange. Kraken agreed to pay $362,158.70 to resolve its potential civil liability for 826 apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“Apparent Violations”). The settlement amount … Continue Reading

Fourth Circuit Extends Territorial Reach of Wire Fraud Statute

By Dimitar Georgiev on Posted in anti-money laundering, United Kingdom, United States
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

Corporate Transparency Act – FinCEN Issues Final Rule for Beneficial Ownership Reporting

By Rebecca Worthington, Ben Wood and Adam Klauder on Posted in anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism financing laws, corporate compliance, FinCEN, U.S. Congress, Uncategorized, United States, US Treasury
We recently shared an alert covering The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), which became law on January 1, 2021. The NDAA included significant reforms to the U.S. anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism regime. Division F of the NDAA consists of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, which includes … Continue Reading

Illicit Financing Risks in the Digital Assets Space: Department of the Treasury Releases Three Reports on Digital Assets and Invites Comment

By Rebecca Worthington, Richard Gibbon and Adam Klauder on Posted in Anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, Anti-money laundering measures, anti-terrorism financing laws, bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, United States, US Treasury
On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) published three reports in response to a March 2022 Executive Order concerning the development of digital assets.  The reports address the future of money and payments; implications for consumers, investors, and businesses; and the illicit financing risks of digital assets.  Secretary Yellen described the … Continue Reading

OFAC Sanctions Virtual Currency Mixer “Tornado Cash”

By Richard Gibbon, Sanaa Bayyari, Adam Klauder and Elizabeth Profaci on Posted in anti-money laundering, Anti-money laundering measures, Cryptocurrency, cyberattack, cybersecurity, OFAC, Sanctions, Sanctions, Uncategorized, United States, US Treasury
On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash for having laundered more than USD 7 billion worth of virtual currency since its founding in 2019.  This includes over USD 455 million worth of stolen virtual currency associated with the Lazarus Group, … Continue Reading

Law Enforcement in the Digital Assets Space: Department of Justice Issues Report Pursuant to White House Executive Order

By Richard Gibbon, Rebecca Worthington, Adam Klauder and Chase Goldstein on Posted in Cryptocurrency, Department of Justice, United States, US Department of Justice, US Treasury
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

DOJ Announces New Corporate Enforcement Strategy

By Colin Jennings, Vipal Patel and Nic Gunton on Posted in Compliance Program, corporate compliance, Department of Justice, Sentencing, United States, US Department of Justice
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

Cybersecurity Compliance on U.S. Government Contracts and Subcontracts

By Karen Harbaugh and Richard Gibbon on Posted in cybersecurity, Department of Justice, False Claims Act (FCA), Fraud, ransomware, United States, US Department of Justice, Whistleblowing
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

Series: Remedies available to companies harmed by industrial espionage

By Colin Jennings, Benjamin Glassman and Vipal Patel on Posted in Courts, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Intellectual Property, Sanctions, Technology, United States
The authors would like to thank Thomas Fogarty and Anya Bharat Ram for their contributions to this post. Section 1832 of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (the “Act”) criminalizes the theft of trade secrets “intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce, to the economic benefit of anyone other than the owner.” 18 U.S.C. § 1832(a). … Continue Reading

Series: Overview of Ways to Legally and Practically Protect Your Company from Industrial Espionage

By Woli Urbe, Colin Jennings and Benjamin Glassman on Posted in Economic sanctions, Intellectual Property, Technology, United States
As we discussed in a previous article, companies can be at risk from internal and external sources of industrial espionage, in an attempt to gain an unfair competitive advantage or disrupt operations. Legal Protections Owners of a trade secret have a federal cause of action against an individual or company that misappropriates their trade secret … Continue Reading

Series: Types of Industrial Espionage

By Benjamin Glassman, Colin Jennings and Woli Urbe on Posted in cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Intellectual Property, Uncategorized, United States
Industrial espionage refers to various activities performed to gain an unfair competitive advantage, rather than for national security purposes.  As we discussed in a previous article, the ways in which industrial espionage can affect a company are numerous and include theft of trade secrets and disruption to operation. Section 1832 of the Economic Espionage Act … Continue Reading

New DOJ KleptoCapture Task Force to Enforce Russia Sanctions

By Chase Goldstein on Posted in corruption, Cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, Department of Justice, Economic sanctions, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Sanctions, United States
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

New Law Requires 72-Hour Notice for Cyber Incidents

By Colin Jennings and Ericka Johnson on Posted in Compliance Program, cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Uncategorized, United States
We recently shared a timely post on Consumer Privacy World that, given the focus of, we wanted to call to your attention. “President Biden has recently delivered on a long stated priority of his presidency: requiring the disclosure of cyber security incidents for companies that operate critical infrastructure. After announcing an executive order in May … Continue Reading

Series: Economic Espionage and Theft of Trade Secrets

By Benjamin Glassman and Colin Jennings on Posted in China, corruption, Department of Justice, Government Investigation, Russia, United States, US Department of Justice
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

Proposed FinCEN Pilot Program on Sharing of Suspicious Activity Reports with Foreign Affiliates

By Kevin McCart, Rebecca Worthington and Dimitar Georgiev on Posted in anti-money laundering, FinCEN, United States
On January 25, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment on a proposed pilot program that would permit certain financial institutions to share suspicious activity reports (“SARs”) and information related to SARs with the institutions’ foreign branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates (the “NPRM”). The proposed rule is … Continue Reading

The Biden Administration Announces Strategy to Combat Global Corruption

By Dimitar Georgiev on Posted in Anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, United States
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
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