In the Courts
November 02, 2015
Analysis of a recent ruling in which the United States District Court for the Eastern 'District of New York issued an opinion in support of the sentencing of Ion Catalin Vrancea, who was convicted on multiple counts in 'November 2013.
Cracking the FCPA Code: Interpreting Recent DOJ and SEC Enforcement and Messaging
November 02, 2015
Notwithstanding expectations of a shift in government enforcement priorities, after more than a decade, FCPA enforcement still shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed, the last two years each welcomed two new members to the list of 10 largest corporate enforcement matters: Total and Weatherford in 2013, and Alstom and Alcoa in 2014.
Business Crimes Hotline
November 02, 2015
Following a decade-long, multi-million dollar bribery scheme, and four years after he was first indicted, former chief financial officer of Siemens S.A. ' Argentina, Andres Truppel, pleaded guilty in a New York federal courtroom to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, falsify corporate books and records, circumvent internal controls, and commit fraud.
The Art of Cyberwarfare
November 02, 2015
Cybersecurity is at a crossroads. No longer resigned to the confines of server rooms overseen by information technology, decisions regarding the protection of data have been forced into the boardroom by events that include breaches at main street businesses and revelations of clandestine government hacking activities.
Upsetting the Apple Cart?
October 02, 2015
Observers of federal compliance monitors are accustomed to seeing them appointed after negotiation, commonly by deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) in criminal matters or by consent decrees in civil matters. The monitorship in the Apple e-books antitrust case is a notable exception. This article discusses the proceedings.
FATCA's Due Diligence Expansion
October 02, 2015
Last month, we discussed the fact that although Congress' purpose and intent in passing 2010's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in order to target U.S. taxpayers using offshore accounts to hide monies overseas FATCA was met, it has been achieved at a cost of imposing heavy burdens on those already compliant. The article concludes herein.
In the Courts
October 02, 2015
Analysis of a case in the Seventh Circuit in which a wire fraud and bribery conviction was upheld for a County Director In Illinois. Also, a look at a case out of the Second Circuit involving whistleblowing.
Searches Without Frontiers
September 02, 2015
The first half of 2015 has seen vigorous debate over U.S. law enforcement's authority to seize data evidence stored overseas. MLATs are agreements between two or more countries that facilitate cross-governmental collaboration in criminal investigations and prosecutions. But the MLAT process is complicated, time-consuming and ill-equipped to handle 21st-century data storage and privacy issues.