Sky Blog
Appellate courts rejected broad theories of white-collar fraud three times last week.
First, on May 10, 2023, in an opinion by Judge Lynch, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated the mail and wire fraud convictions of …
This will be a cold-blooded, objective look at the Trump indictment by someone who can be fairly described as a “Trump-hater.” To date, in the outpouring of commentary on the Trump prosecution, efforts at moderation have been lacking. For example, …
The indictments of Donald Trump have begun to come down. New York will be first, but Special Counsel Jack Smart in Washington and the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, (Fani Willis) could follow shortly.
Lest there be any doubt, …
This month brought additional guidance from DOJ, this time the much-anticipated compliance guidance on compensation structures to incentivize compliance and the use of personal devices and messaging apps to engage in business communications. The guidance was announced by the Deputy …
On March 2 and 3, 2023, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite gave speeches announcing new and amended Department of Justice policies and guidance for prosecuting corporate crime. Both sets of remarks—which built on earlier …
On June 27, 2016, the Supreme Court dramatically changed anticorruption law and enforcement in the United States. In McDonnell v. United States, the court reversed the corruption conviction of the former governor of Virginia and considerably constricted the legal …
Sound policymaking has helped India modernize and achieve robust economic growth, positioning it to become an increasingly important player on the world stage. But recent developments – and scandals – show that the government must address some major issues if …
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On February 7, 2023, Ishan Wahi (Ishan), a former Coinbase product manager, pled guilty to wire fraud charges in an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
Ishan admitted that he had used …
United States v. Blaszczak[1] has long been a one-off case that did not fit the mold of the traditional insider trading prosecution, but now — following a 2-1 decision of the Second Circuit in December, reversing most of the …
On December 29, 2022, the Second Circuit issued its highly anticipated opinion on remand in United States v. Blaszczak (“Blaszczak II”), reconsidering the case following the Supreme Court’s January 2021 vacatur of the Second Circuit’s original decision upholding …
The spectacle of a shambling billionaire with an adolescent personality, an inconsistent memory, a fondness for using his depositors’ funds for his own personal purposes, and an eagerness to talk in self-destructive ways to the press has fascinated everyone. This …
For at least a quarter century, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pursued claims of unlawful insider trading where the information at issue was material to the stock price of the sponsor of a clinical trial. In recent years, …
On October 18, 2022, Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Lisa O. Monaco announced that Lafarge SA (“Lafarge”), a multi-national building materials manufacturer headquartered in Paris, France, and its Syrian subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (“LCS”) had pleaded guilty in the Eastern District …
Corporate law prohibits companies from pursuing profits through criminal misconduct. It uses the fiduciary duties imposed on boards under the Caremark doctrine,[1] and the threat of personal liability of directors for deliberate breach, to help motivate directors to make …
Here’s the second episode of The Cutting Edge, a podcast series that examines white collar crime and corporate governance. This episode, “Special Counsel: Whose Interests Do They Serve?” looks at the history and unique status of the special counsel …
On September 13, 2022, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement with Prosperity Bank, a regional bank with branches in Texas and Oklahoma, for processing a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on behalf of an ineligible borrower.…
Good afternoon. Thank you, Dean McKenzie, for the introduction and for hosting us today. I’m happy to be back at NYU, and to see so many friends and former colleagues in the room.
Let me start by acknowledging some of
Can you name 10 corporate criminals? Bernie Madoff, Martha Stewart, and Jeff Skilling don’t count – they are individuals, not businesses. How about just five? Three? It’s surprising the task should be so difficult. Corporate crime inflicts upwards of 20 …