ESG is a new and important part of the corporate governance landscape.  Prosecutors and regulatory agencies are quickly adding ESG to their lexicon. The real question for every organization is “what are you doing to address it?”  ESG is a terrific opportunity to leverage an organization’s corporate culture to address a broad set of values beyond ESG principles. In this Episode, Michael Volkov discusses the ESG movement and the implications for corporations. 

Corruption Crime & Compliance

Episode 189 -- A Review of the ESG Movement

In the new Biden Administration, companies should expect aggressive enforcement of trade sanctions.  At the same time, in response to Russian aggression and the Solar Winds cyber-attack, OFAC is likely to implement new and even more restrictive sanctions against Russia.  In anticipation, companies should elevate the importance of their sanctions compliance programs (SCPs) pursuant to the May 2019 OFAC Framework.  Unfortunately, for many companies, sanctions compliance does not get the attention it deserves. Those companies that ignore sanctions risks are operating in peril. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the 2021 OFAC enforcement actions of the year involving five separate cases, including (1) Union de Banques Arabes et Françaises; (2) PT Bukit Muria Jaya; (3) BitPay, Inc.; (4) UniControl, Inc.; and (5) Nordgas, S.r.l.

Episode 188 -- 2021 Review of OFAC Sanctions Enforcement Actions

Boeing’s long and tragic scandal surrounding its 737 MAX safety concerns and FAA disclosure violations has come to an end.  DOJ announced a settlement early this year, on January 7, 2021, which included a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in exchange for total payments of $2.5 billion, consisting of: a $243.6 million criminal penalty, $1.77 billion in compensation to its airline customers, and $500 million to establish a crash victims’ beneficiary fund to compensate families of the 346 people killed in two crashes involving Boeing’s 737 Max.  The criminal information charged Boeing with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Boeings 737 Max was involved in two crashes in 2018 and 2019 before being grounded.  In October 2018, Lion Air flight 610 crashed in the Java Sea, killing 189 people, and in March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 157 people.  The United States ordered the planes grounded shortly after the Ethiopian Airlines crash. As part of the settlement, Boeing admitted that it withheld critical information about the 737 MAX jets’ Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System and the impact it had on the plane’s flight control system. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the DOJ settlement with Boeing for compliance insights, enforcement observations and overall fairness of the resolution.

Episode 187 -- Review of DOJ's Settlement with Boeing

The Ethics & Compliance Initiative recently released its 2021 Global Business Ethics Survey.  The GBES is an insightful and important survey. The link to the report is https://www.ethics.org/just-released-2021-global-business-ethics-survey-report/. In this Episode, Michael Volkov interviews Pat Harned about the results and the important findings.

Episode 186 -- Interview of Pat Harned, CEO of ECI, 2021 Global Business Ethics Survey

Mike Volkov interviews Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Manager and Compliance Consultant at the Volkov Law Group, concerning trade compliance and anti-boycott issues. Alex specializes in corporate risk assessments, evaluation of general compliance programs, and the remediation of compliance deficiencies. He also specializes in trade (export) compliance and is familiar with a broad range of issues arising under both the Arms Export Control Act and its implementing regulations (ITAR) as well as the Export Administration Act and its implementing regulations (EAR). Alex can be reached at acotoia@volkovlaw.com.  

Episode 185 -- Interview of Alex Cotoia (The Volkov Law Group) on Anti-Boycott Compliance

Each year, Michael Volkov reviews current trends concerning the state of the chief Compliance Officer.  As we witness the continuing growth in stature of the CCO, it is important to exercise caution and realistically evaluate future trends and concerns.

Episode 184 -- The State of the CCO

Deutsche Bank, the infamous German bank connected to former President Trump, settled FCPA and fraud cases with the Justice Department and the SEC, and agreed to pay a total of $130 million. In this Episode, Michael Review reviews the Deutsche Bank settlement.

Episode 183 -- Review of the Deutsche Bank FCPA and Spoofing Fraud DOJ Settlements

Four years ago, in 2016, the Antitrust Division and FTC issued guidance as to the application of antitrust laws to no-poaching and wage-fixing agreements between employers.  The guidance stated, “Going forward, the Justice Departments intends to criminally investigate naked no-poaching or wage-fixing agreements that are unrelated or unnecessary to a larger legitimate collaboration between the employers.” The Antitrust Division has now put its money where its mouth is -- announcing two importance criminal cases for no-poach and wage-fixing agreements. In this Episode, Michael Volkov discusses these important criminal prosecutions.

Episode 182 -- Antitrust Division Brings First Criminal Indictments for No-Poach and Wage-Fixing Agreements

Matt Stankiewicz, Managing Counsel, The Volkov Law Group, and Michael Volkov discuss the latest events and trends within the cryptocurrency industry. Several major enforcement actions have hit the news recently, such as the CFTC’s case against BitMEX and the SEC’s high-profile action against Ripple and its XRP cryptocurrency.  We also discuss potential regulatory movement under the Biden Administration and what may be coming in the next few years.  Finally, we touch on the latest trends surrounding Bitcoin, including Tesla’s recent purchase and others considering the same.

Episode 181 — Cryptocurrency Review: Matt Stankiewicz Discusses the SEC’s Case against Ripple, Predictions under the Biden Administration, and Bitcoin’s Corporate Surge

Jessica Sanderson, Partner, The Volkov Law Group and Michael Volkov review significant developments in the civil False Claims Act (“FCA”) area from the past year. With mind-boggling federal spending in FY 2020 and the obvious potential for fraud, abuse, and misuse of the trillions of dollars of federal stimulus funds, we undoubtedly will see a considerable increase in FCA audits, investigations, enforcement actions, qui tam lawsuits, settlements and judgments over the next 2-3 years. Jessica and Mike review 2020 trends and themes and discuss changes in enforcement under the Biden Administration.

Episode 180 -- 2020 Review of False Claims Act with Jessica Sanderson -- Partner The Volkov Law Group

President Biden has nominated Merrick Garland and Lisa Monaco to head the U.S Department of Justice.  In addition, the Biden Administration has nominated a number of strong enforcement candidates to head up various regulatory agencies.  The implications of this new team across the government will be significant on various industry sectors. Tom Fox joins Mike Volkov to discuss the new Justice Department leadership and the likely impact on enforcement and compliance.

Episode 179 -- Tom Fox and Mike Volkov Discuss the Biden Administration Enforcement Priorities

Congress enacted The Corporate Transparency Act, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.  The CTA expands beneficial ownership disclosure requirements for US entities.  The new disclosure requirements target shell companies and small businesses to ensure disclosure beneficial ownership information. Liz Slim, Senior Counsel at The Volkov Law Group, interviews Scott Greytak from Transparency International USA, and Erica Hanichak from the FACT Coalition and review the CTA and the implications for anti-corruption and anti-money laundering enforcement.

Episode 178 - The Corporate Transparency Act: Interview of Scott Greytak, Transparency International, and Erica Hanichak, The Fact Coalition

Despite the challenges facing OFAC during the pandemic and the strain on resources, OFAC continued its dogged commitment to sanctions enforcement.  While the numbers racked up by OFAC were lower because of the pandemic, OFAC later in the year resumed its aggressive pace of sanctions enforcement.  It even released two enforcement actions during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the 2020 OFAC sanctions enforcement action.

Episode 177 -- 2020 OFAC Sanctions Enforcement Review

The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission had another record year of enforcement.  In fact, the last four years of FCPA enforcement included two years of record enforcement – 2019 and 2020.  After those two years, 2016, 2014, 2010 were larger enforcement years (as measured by total fines) than 2017 and 2018, the first two years of FCPA enforcement under the Trump Administration. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews FCPA enforcement trends for 2020.

Episode 176 -- 2020 FCPA Year in Review

The Justice Department continues to produce FCPA resolutions in a record year for enforcement.  The latest is DOJ’s settlement with Vitol, Inc. (Vitol), an energy trading company. DOJ agreed to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in exchange for a criminal penalty of $135 million.  One-third of the payment, or $45 million, would be credited if Vitol pays $45 million to Brazil prosecutors for resolution of the case. Vitol also agreed to a civil settlement with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for $28.7 million, $12.7 million of which was for disgorgement.  The Vitol case represented the first coordinated FCPA enforcement action between DOJ and the CFTC. Vitol’s DOJ and Brazil settlements stem from Vitol bribery schemes in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico.  Over a fifteen year period, Vitol paid millions of dollars in bribes to numerous public officials in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews Vitol's FCPA settlement and the bribery schemes.

Episode 175 -- A Deep Dive into the Vitol FCPA Settlement

Michael Volkov tackles the current and hot topics in the legal realms of corruption, crime, and compliance.