Bribery and Corruption

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On May 22, 2017, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved changes to the Whistleblower Rules articulated in the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). The recent amendments strengthen anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers and bring the CFTC’s whistleblower program more in line with that of its sister agency, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
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Continue Reading CFTC Amends Whistleblower Rules, Bolstering Anti-Retaliation Provisions

In April the High Court in England approved the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”) agreed between the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) and Tesco Stores Limited (“TSL”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesco PLC (“Tesco”), the UK’s biggest retailer, in connection with the much-publicised accounting scandal in 2014. Whilst the DPA itself has not been published because of reporting restrictions (due to the on-going prosecution of individuals by the SFO in relation to this matter), it was approved by Sir Brian Leveson, the same judge that has so far approved all of four of the SFO’s DPAs.
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Continue Reading Every Little Bit Helps: Progress for Tesco as it secures DPA on criminal liability

On April 19, 2017, Law Bulletin hosted its 10th annual Chicago White Collar Crime & Corporate Governance Conference at the Swissotel Chicago. Attorneys from across the legal profession, as well as former U.S. Department of Justice and Securities & Exchange Commission officials, shared insights and perspectives on this year’s topic, “Implications of a Trump Administration.” As a panelist on “The Shifting Anti-Corruption Landscape,” I spoke about my experience with anti-corruption investigations and enforcement actions. The discussion touched on some key points.
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Continue Reading Corporate Anti-Corruption in the Trump Era: Business as Usual?

On January 13, 2017, the Ministry of Justice of the United Kingdom issued a (“call for evidence,”) seeking comment on potential changes to corporate criminal liability law for economic offences, such as fraud, false accounting and money laundering.  Currently, corporate criminal liability in the UK, apart from offences charged under the Bribery Act of 2010, follows the common law “identification doctrine” or “directing mind theory.” …
Continue Reading UK MOJ Calls for Evidence to Weigh Reform Effort Aimed at Tightening Corporate Criminal Liability

The final weeks of 2016 saw an uptick in activity in the bribery and money laundering investigations surrounding mining rights in the West African country of Guinea.

On December 13, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice arrested and charged Guinea’s former Minister of Mines and Geology, Mahmoud Thiam, with laundering $8.5 million in bribes he allegedly received from a Chinese conglomerate in exchange for, among other things, near total control of Guinea’s mining sector. …
Continue Reading Allegations of Corruption Continue to Surround Guinea’s Simandou Mines

Earlier this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the “OECD”) launched its latest round of reviews to monitor the anti-bribery efforts of signatory countries to the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention (the “Convention”). The Convention, in force since 1999 and adopted by 41 countries, including all 35 OECD member states, requires signatories to criminalize the…

On December 9, 2016, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Criminal Division Leslie R. Caldwell announced that DOJ was seeking applicants for an attorney dedicated to enhancing cooperation with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) in London. This initiative signals DOJ’s continued efforts to fight fraud and economic crime on a global and interconnected scale.  Caldwell remarked that international crime and worldwide fraud schemes have become the “new normal,” compared to when she began working at DOJ. …
Continue Reading DOJ Attorney to be Assigned to Work with FCA and SFO on Fraud

In a speech delivered at The George Washington University Law School, DOJ Criminal Division Chief Leslie Caldwell reported that the one-year pilot program in the Fraud Section’s FCPA Unit (the “FCPA Pilot Program”) has resulted in an increase in companies self-reporting potential FCPA violations.
Continue Reading DOJ Criminal Chief Reports the FCPA Pilot Program is Working

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) Chief David Green has reported a high demand for deferred prosecution agreements (“DPAs”) by companies since the introduction of the DPA law in early 2014. Despite a low number of settlements reached by the SFO thus far, Green reports that both the SFO and courts want to make DPAs work for companies that cooperate and voluntarily self-report misconduct.
Continue Reading U.K. Sees High Demand for DPAs by Companies

An investment bank brought a legal malpractice claim against Morrison & Foerster after the law firm failed to inform the bank that Puda Coal, Inc. was a shell company, despite receiving a report detailing that fact. A Judge of the New York Supreme Court, however, dismissed the case because the investment bank received the same report, and, as a sophisticated company, could not absolve itself of its own responsibilities. …
Continue Reading No malpractice claim against underwriter’s counsel for failing to inform client of information already in the client’s possession