Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Corporate Compliance Insights
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Articles
    • See All Articles
    • NEW: COVID-Related
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Leadership and Career
  • Vendor News
  • Jobs
  • Events
    • Webinars & Events
    • Submit an Event
  • Downloads
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Articles
    • See All Articles
    • NEW: COVID-Related
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Leadership and Career
  • Vendor News
  • Jobs
  • Events
    • Webinars & Events
    • Submit an Event
  • Downloads
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Corporate Compliance Insights

Follow the Bouncing Ball – Tracking DOJ Investigations

by Michael Volkov
February 3, 2014
in Uncategorized
bouncing ball

This article was republished with permission from Michael Volkov’s Corruption, Crime & Compliance.

Looking back on 2013, the Department of Justice and SEC had a strong enforcement year.  It is interesting to analyze how prosecutors exercised their discretion – what industries were subjects of FCPA investigations?  How did the companies come to the attention of the DOJ and SEC?

There is no question that most subjects of FCPA investigations are “discovered” through the voluntary disclosure process.  Companies continue to weigh the costs and benefits of the voluntary disclosure process.  It is an issue that generates controversy among lawyers and business executives alike.

I have been critical of the DOJ and the SEC for not defining specific standards for voluntary disclosures. Too much of the calculation is defined in very general terms (e.g., a “substantial discount” and “extraordinary cooperation”).

Prosecutors know how to define a benefit and regularly do so in criminal cases prosecuted in the 94 districts by the U.S. Attorneys’ Office.  For example, prosecutors will make a plea offer to a defendant that includes a specific discount in the defendant’s base offense level calculation under the Sentencing Guidelines.  There is no reason why the DOJ and the SEC cannot articulate a set of standards for cooperation and potential benefits to companies that are considering making a voluntary disclosure.

Once an investigation starts in a specific industry, the level of risk rises for other companies in the same industry.  Prosecutors gain important intelligence about how the industry works and about other companies in the same industry.

A company that decides to cooperate in DOJ and SEC investigations typically provides information about misconduct committed by other companies in the same industry. Companies that cooperate in criminal antitrust cartel investigations often provide important leads on foreign bribery by competitors.

Another significant risk is when competitors use the same agent or distributor as part of their operations.  Once the DOJ and the SEC identify a risky third party involved in a bribery scheme, the logical question is which other companies used the same agent or distributor.

The DOJ has used this tactic in the “pharmaceutical and medical device sweep” and related oil and gas industry investigations, launching investigations in these industries based on common third-party entities involved in bribery schemes.

Given this risk, companies have to monitor their third parties to make sure the third parties notify the company when the third party learns that it is the subject of a government inquiry.  To make sure the third party notifies the company, contracts between the company and the third party should include an appropriate notification provision.

The tracking of FCPA and antitrust investigations provides important intelligence on DOJ and SEC investigations. Companies should monitor FCPA disclosures, settlements and other public information about DOJ and SEC enforcement actions.  In addition, companies should track DOJ antitrust cartel investigations and enforcement actions.

Putting this information together will provide companies with additional risk factors to consider when dealing with third parties.


Tags: tone at the top
Previous Post

How to Increase IT Efficiencies Within the Health Care Industry

Next Post

ECOA to Offer Unique Global Law Distance-Learning Course Tailored for E&C Practitioners

Michael Volkov

Michael-Volkov-leclairryan Michael Volkov is the CEO of The Volkov Law Group LLC, where he provides compliance, internal investigation and white collar defense services.  He can be reached at mvolkov@volkovlaw.com. Michael has extensive experience representing clients on matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, money laundering, Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), export controls, sanctions and International Traffic in Arms, False Claims Act, Congressional investigations, online gambling and regulatory enforcement issues. Michael served for more than 17 years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia; for five years as the Chief Crime and Terrorism Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Chief Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Counsel for the Senate and House Judiciary Committees; and as a Trial Attorney in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Michael also maintains a well-known blog: Corruption Crime & Compliance, which is frequently cited by anti-corruption professionals and professionals in the compliance industry.

Related Posts

silhouette of businesspeople in meeting with blue cyber background

Cyber Risk Quantification and Prioritization is the Future of GRC

January 20, 2021
miniature airplane on global currency

FinCEN’s Proposed Changes to the Recordkeeping and Travel Rule Thresholds

January 20, 2021
man working on smartphone and laptop

Adverse Media Screening: Relying on Google Alone Can Expose Organizations to Risk

January 19, 2021
hand showing three fingers on gray background

A Culture of Compliance: The 3 R’s

January 19, 2021
Next Post

ECOA to Offer Unique Global Law Distance-Learning Course Tailored for E&C Practitioners

Access realtime data

Special Coverage

Special COVID page graphic

Jump to a Topic:

anti-corruption anti-money laundering/AML Artificial Intelligence/A.I. automation banks board of directors board risk oversight bribery CCPA/California Consumer Privacy Act Cloud Compliance communications management Coronavirus/COVID-19 corporate culture crisis management culture of ethics cyber crime cyber risk data analytics data breach data governance decision-making diversity DOJ due diligence fcpa enforcement actions financial crime GDPR GRC HIPAA information security internal audit KYC/know your customer machine learning monitoring regtech reputation risk risk assessment Sanctions SEC social media risk technology third party risk management tone at the top training whistleblowing
No Result
View All Result

Privacy Policy

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS Feed

Category

  • CCI Press
  • Compliance
  • Compliance Podcasts
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data Privacy
  • eBooks
  • Ethics
  • FCPA
  • Featured
  • Financial Services
  • Fraud
  • Governance
  • GRC Vendor News
  • HR Compliance
  • Internal Audit
  • Leadership and Career
  • Opinion
  • Resource Library
  • Risk
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Whitepapers

© 2019 Corporate Compliance Insights

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • Articles
  • Vendor News
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Whitepapers
  • eBooks
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

© 2019 Corporate Compliance Insights