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In a striking rebuke, the U.K. Supreme Court found that the U.K. Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) overstepped its authority when it tried to access corporate documents from the United States.
To settle enforcement matters, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) often seeks to require non-monetary conditions on top of civil monetary penalties from companies that have allegedly violated federal securities laws.
It was only a matter of time. On January 12, 2021, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it had reached its first civil settlement regarding allegations of fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).
On January 1, 2021, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021 became law. Section 6501 of the NDAA includes amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), expanding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC”) ability to obtain disgorgement and other equitable relief in cases involving securities fraud.
A recent enforcement action announced by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice included a notable plot twist – the investigation did not turn up an antitrust crime, but instead revealed a criminal conspiracy to violate the Procurement Integrity Act (“PIA,” 41 U.S.C. §§ 2101-2107).
During a roundtable at the Fifth International Debarment Colloquium last month, Joseph Mauro, a spokesperson for the Compliance Unit of the World Bank Group’s (“World Bank”) Integrity Vice Presidency (“INT”), announced recent changes to the manner in which the World Bank will evaluate borrowers’ compliance programs in future corruption investigations.
In 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) estimated that business email compromises, often carried out via email scams that trick businesses into making wire payments, have caused an estimated $1.7 billion in losses for businesses that fell victim to these schemes, which amounts to the highest out-of-pocket losses incurred from any class of cybercrime.[1]
On October 8, 2020, the Attorney General’s Cyber-Digital Task Force (“the Task Force”) issued its Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework (the “Report”), which offers background on virtual assets, enforcement milestones, and plans for increasing scrutiny into the use of cryptocurrency, following the Task Force’s inception in 2018.
On September 10, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Division of Enforcement released its long-awaited “Guidance on Evaluating Compliance Programs in Connection with Enforcement Matters,” which will be incorporated into the CFTC’s enforcement manual and used by CFTC enforcement staff when reviewing the efficacy of corporate compliance programs moving forward.
Dodd-Frank created the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC” or “Commission”) whistleblower program, which allows the SEC to issue awards to eligible whistleblowers who provide original information that leads to successful enforcement actions with total monetary sanctions above $1 million.[1]
A recent decision out of the Southern District of Florida highlights the importance of businesses taking an expansive approach when considering whether to register as a broker dealer and the applicability of other requirements under the federal securities laws …
On September 6, 2020, news broke that U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s former company allegedly reimbursed its employees with corporate funds for donations that he asked them to make to federal and state political campaigns.