Posts Tagged ‘Justice Department’
Justice Dept. Trainwreck Continues
Another day, another crazy idea from the Trump Administration that could put corporate enforcement practices through the metaphorical blender. This time around: apparently there’s a power struggle within the Justice Department that could end up dismantling the Fraud Section as corporate compliance professionals know it. According to an article published in Bloomberg, the White House…
Read MoreMaking Enforcement & Accountability Work
Last week I moderated a webinar on the Justice Department’s new corporate enforcement policy. It gave us an excellent opportunity to unpack the overlapping issues facing compliance officers, from enforcing individual accountability to supporting a strong speakup culture to performing effective root cause analysis. I took lots of notes as usual, and pass them along…
Read MoreA New Corporate Enforcement Policy
Another day, another corporate enforcement pronouncement from the U.S. Justice Department. This time the memo comes from the Criminal Division, which again repeats the mantra, “If you companies should self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate, we won’t prosecute you!” but there are a few nuances that compliance officers will want to consider. The Justice Department announced the…
Read MoreSDNY Unveils New Declination Policy
Federal prosecutors in New York have released their new policies for prosecuting corporate misconduct, with promises of no monetary penalties, no monitors, and pretty much no prosecution at all for most corporations; and with big shifts in what prosecutors define as “aggravating circumstances” that do or don’t leave you eligible for a declination in the…
Read MoreJustice Dept. Shifts on New Fraud Prosecutor
The Justice Department is apparently changing course on its recently announced new assistant attorney general for fraud investigations, telling Congress that the person holding the job will report to the deputy attorney general’s office — not directly to the White House, as the White House had previously said. According to an article published Wednesday afternoon…
Read MoreOh Lord: Trump’s Latest Enforcement Idea
The Trump Administration is creating a new Justice Department division to fight fraud in government funding. All you government contractors out there, tread carefully; this idea raises thorny legal and political questions and further undermines the Justice Department’s reputation for integrity. Vice president J.D. Vance announced the news on Thursday, and said the new division…
Read MoreGood Compliance Wins Another Declination
Well look at that, compliance community! A plastics importer in upstate New York has avoided criminal prosecution for tariffs evasion because the company did everything right by U.S. Justice Department standards: self-disclosed its misconduct, helped prosecutors nail its now-former chief operating officer, and improved its compliance program. The company in question is MGI International, which…
Read MoreMore Muddled Messages From DOJ
An update on anti-corruption enforcement in the United States: one week after the deputy attorney general lectured compliance officers that no, really, the Trump 2.0 Administration is serious about enforcement and not just targeting foreign business rivals, prosecutors have dropped two corruption cases related to FIFA while preparing to hammer Chinese telecom giant ZTE Corp.…
Read MoreCompliance Amid ‘Aggravating Circumstances’
Today let’s return to some issues raised during last week’s ACI conference about FCPA enforcement. Speakers offered a few examples of when the Justice Department might still press for vigorous prosecution (rather than a straightforward declination), and compliance officers have much to consider here. For starters, let’s remember that the Justice Department announced new, more…
Read MoreDOJ Talks Enforcement; White House Tramples Message
Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche gave a high-profile speech to corporate compliance professionals on Thursday — but really, should we care? Because Blanche’s boss in the Oval Office is pardoning fraudsters so fast and furious these days that you can’t trust anything Blanche proclaims as policy. For the record, Blanche delivered a keynote address Thursday…
Read More