A Closer Look At Judge Garaufis’s Decision Not To Dismiss The FCPA Charges
In 2024, the DOJ criminally charged various individuals in connection with an alleged Indian bribery scheme. (See here for the prior post).
This recent post highlighted how Judge Nicholas Garaufis (E.D.N.Y.) granted the DOJ’s motion to dismiss various non-FCPA fraud charges against certain defendants.
However, Judge Garaufis denied – for the moment – the motion to dismiss FCPA and obstruction charges against certain other defendants.
Regarding the “FCPA Charges against Non-Appearing Defendants,” Judge Garaufis wrote:
SEC Rescinds Long-Standing Settlement Policy
The SEC’s long-standing “neither admit nor deny” settlement policy has been the focus of posts on this site for approximately 15 years.
Yesterday, the SEC rescinded the policy.
The SEC release states:
“The Securities and Exchange Commission today rescinded a policy, codified in Rule 202.5(e) of its informal rules of procedures, stating that when it chooses to settle an enforcement action in which a sanction is imposed, it will not settle unless the defendant or respondent also agrees not to publicly deny the allegations in the complaint or administrative order. Rescinding Rule 202.5(e) aligns the Commission with the overwhelming majority of federal agencies that do not have a similar rule and gives the Commission more flexibility in settling enforcement actions, which conserves resources, provides certainty, and potentially expedites the return of money to injured investors. The recission recognizes that the effect on the public interest from such denials may be minimal and that the policy itself may have created an incorrect impression that the Commission is trying to shield itself from criticism.”
Hey Look, Another DOJ Policy
In running this site for over 16 years, I don’t even recall how many DOJ policy memos have been covered here.
The short answer is many.
Many, many.
Some have been specific to the FCPA, some have been more general (yet FCPA relevant), some have been focused on specific topics.
In the latest example, earlier this week the DOJ released yet another non-binding policy document titled “Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Galeotti On FCPA Enforcement
Last week Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti gave this speech stating that “white-collar enforcement remains a priority for the Criminal Division.”
Galeotti identified “a few key priority areas for the Division” including foreign corruption.
He stated:
“Following the President’s Executive Order in February, the Deputy Attorney General issued FCPA enforcement guidelines in June, which set forth non-exhaustive priority areas for the Department’s prosecutors. As the DAG announced, he led a process reviewing all such matters, and the Division will firmly — but fairly — prosecute foreign bribery cases consistent with the Guidelines.
Many Of The Topics Discussed In The FCPA Guidelines Are Not New
On June 9th, DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued this memo to the head of the DOJ Criminal Division titled “Guidelines for Investigations and Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”
At first blush, it may seem like there are many new topics in the Guidelines.
What is perhaps new is that these topics are actually written down in a DOJ policy document, but as highlighted in this prior and future posts, many of the topics discussed in the Guidelines have been happening before our eyes for several years.
For instance, the Guidelines state: