Sky Blog
Boards face increasingly demanding requirements for oversight. It is no longer enough to have a compliance program on paper. Regulators, courts, and investors expect boards to ensure that compliance systems function to prevent, detect, and respond to misconduct. That expectation …
The relationship between corporate compliance and reputation has fundamentally changed in our digitally interconnected world. What once were discrete regulatory violations now cascade across multiple stakeholders, with ramifications amplified by social media and enabled by new forms of stakeholder coordination. …
Policymakers around the world have typically outsourced the detection of financial crime to the private sector. This approach is often referred to as the “gatekeeper” model, with the basic idea being that private firms, like bodyguards at a nightclub, are …
It’s no secret that civil discovery breeds attorney misconduct. The incentives are all wrong. Lawyers have an incentive to advance their clients’ interests. Fighting tooth and nail on behalf of a client helps to justify large fees and repeat business, …
With the change in SEC leadership, now is the perfect time for the commission to reevaluate its approach to chief compliance officer (“CCO”) liability. In a new article, I contend that the SEC’s current approach to CCO liability has …
On November 14, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division (the “Division”) released guidance for the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations (the “Guidance”). The Guidance will be used by the Division in assessing the …
The Criminal Division is on the front lines of the Justice Department’s efforts to hold culpable individuals and companies accountable for corporate crime. We also develop innovative policies both to encourage companies to be good corporate citizens and to enhance …
Corporate boards will be called upon to renew their oversight of corporate compliance following the recent announcement of several new corporate fraud enforcement initiatives by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Most notably, these include a new whistleblower program and …
In a speech on October 24, 2023, the director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Enforcement Division, Gurbir Grewal, described the scenarios in which the commission would bring an enforcement action against a compliance officer.
In remarks to the …
Last year marked the 20th anniversary of Congress’ enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, legislation that arose in response to Enron’s demise and the accounting scandals that followed, and which coincided with the successful and much-heralded prosecution of a …
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Despite its significant role in preventing and deterring wrongdoing, corporate compliance’s long-term prospects remain an open question. How strongly does a company’s inclination to redress wrongdoing rest on a credible threat of outside enforcement?
This is one of the questions …
In the United States, major financial scandals in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s resulted in federal pressure on corporations to inculcate ethical behavior in their employees. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the U.S. Organization Sentencing …
Corporate leaders may wish to revisit the important yet sensitive topic of reporting relationships in compliance programs following the release of new guidance from the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.
That guidance, entitled Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs[1], …
On April 30, 2019, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ” or “the Department”) announced updated guidance for the Criminal Division’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“the Guidance”) in charging and resolving criminal cases.[1] Assistant Attorney …
The United States Department of Justice’s Fraud Section recently released a guidance document entitled Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“Evaluation Guidance”),[1] which sets forth a list of common questions that the Fraud Section may ask in evaluating corporate compliance …