$1 Million Settlement Reached in AseraCare FCA Case
The Department of Justice and AseraCare have agreed to settle for $1 million the long-running False Claims Act qui tam suit, in which the United States had previously sought $200 million in liability. The settlement involves a single payment and will not require a corporate integrity agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General. The […]
What Part of ‘Zero Tolerance’ Don’t They Understand?
In a commentary for FCPA Blog, Tom Fox discusses zero tolerance policies in the context of compliance. “What does it mean to have a zero-tolerance policy for illegal or unethical conduct?” he asks. “Does it mean no as in never, no as in maybe, or no as in we’ll see?” Read the full post at FCPA Blog
Transparency International U.K. Launches Anti-Bribery Portal
Transparency International UK has launched a new online tool that provides up-to-date and in-depth guidance for businesses in understanding and mitigating the risks of bribery. This free online portal expands and updates all of TI-UK’s Business Integrity guidance from the last decade, including the original Adequate Procedures Guidance to the UK Bribery Act, a leading resource for compliance and […]
Feds End FCPA Investigation of Core Labs in Unaoil Scandal
Amsterdam-based Core Laboratories N.V. reports that the DOJ and SEC have both closed their investigations into the company’s dealings with Unaoil, and won’t bring any enforcement action. The DoJ investigation was ended last year. Monaco-based Unaoil was accused in 2016 of paying bribes on behalf of about a dozen companies in the oil and gas […]
When Do Issuers Disclose Their FCPA Problems?
During the first half of 2018, seven issuers resolved FCPA offenses with the DOJ or SEC or both. FCPA Blog investigated 1) when these companies first learned about their potential FCPA offenses (according to their own disclosures), 2) when they first disclosed them, and 3) when they finally resolved the offenses with the feds. The […]
Deputy AG Rosenstein – “We Should Never Use The Threat Of Federal Enforcement Unfairly...
During a keynote address at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said that law enforcement should never use the threat of federal enforcement unfairly to extract a corporate settlement. “Corporate enforcement and settlement demands must always have a sound basis in the evidence and the law,” Rosenstein remarked. Rosenstein also […]
Monitor Independence and Evolution
Tom Fox talked with Mikhail Reider-Gordon, Managing Director of Global Affairs at Affiliated Monitors, Inc., for a five-part sponsored podcast series. One of the key themes was why independence in monitors is so critical. From her varied professional background Gordon has seen the continuing and ever-present need for independence by monitors and in monitorships. A […]
Three Steps for Managing the FCPA Risk of Distributor Compensation
Tom Fox writes about the current investigation into Microsoft’s practices in Hungary, where it is reportedly under FCPA investigation for the actions of some of its distributors. “When companies grant distributors uncommonly steep discounts, it fosters an atmosphere ripe for paying bribes because the distributor is either instructed by the company to use the excess […]
Compliance Lessons from Recent Nine-Figure FCPA Settlements
Walmart, TechnipFMC, Fresenius Medical Care, and Mobile TeleSystems have all fallen prey to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a record year of what Jaclyn Jaeger describes as “jacked-up enforcement and sky-high penalties… each case involving widespread bribery schemes that spanned multiple countries over a period of several years.” Retail giant Walmart reached a $283 […]
Federal Court Orders Production of Internal Investigation Memoranda to Third Parties Following Oral Disclosure...
A federal magistrate judge in Florida recently ordered that witness interview memoranda from an internal investigation be produced to third parties in related civil...