SEC Co-Director Of Enforcement Peikin On Success And Remedies
Recently, Steven Peikin (Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement) gave this speech in which he talked about the meanings of success of the SEC’s enforcement program as well as the remedies and relief available to the SEC in enforcement actions.
While not Foreign Corrupt Practices Act specific, Peikin’s speech was FCPA relevant and portions of the speech (along with commentary) are excerpted below.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew Miner On A Variety Of FCPA Issues (With Commentary)
Yesterday, Deputy Assistant AG Matt Miner delivered this speech.
It touched upon a number of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues including: the DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Policy, voluntary disclosure, so-called declinations, coordinated resolutions, general compliance issues, and M&A transactions.
This post summarizes the speech and provides certain commentary.
Stephanie Avakian (Co-Director Of The SEC’s Enforcement Division) Ponders The Meaning Of Success
In this, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’s 40th year, it is prudent to take a step back and ponder the question of whether the FCPA has been successful in achieving its objectives. This of course begs the question: what is the definition of success? (See here a 25 minute video which explores this issue, see also posts here, here, and here).
Recently, Stephanie Avakian (Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division) delivered this speech. While the speech does not specifically mention the FCPA, Avakian nevertheless ponders the meaning of success when it comes to SEC enforcement (and after all, the SEC does have a specialized FCPA Unit – one of only five such specialized units).
The DOJ’s Latest FCPA Rhetoric Doesn’t Even Pass The Smell Test
Speeches by Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement officials have long included over-the-top rhetoric. (See this article for a general summary).
This recent post highlighted a speech by DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew Miner. In the speech, Miner stated that when a company voluntarily discloses FCPA issues and engages in remedial actions, this frees up DOJ resources and “these resources can then be directed to other cases, not only in the FCPA context, but also to other areas such as opioid enforcement, human trafficking, and crimes impacting vulnerable victims, like children and the elderly.”
The DOJ’s latest FCPA rhetoric does not even pass the smell test and set forth below are various reactions to this portion of Miner’s speech from FCPA practitioners.
Deputy Assistant AG Miner On M&A Issues, The DOJ’s Opinion Procedure Program, And Other Issues (With Rebuttal)
As highlighted in this prior post, while in private practice Matthew Miner criticized the “Yates Memo,” DOJ transparency, the deficiencies of DOJ guidance as a solution in the FCPA space, and the FCPA’s “foreign official” element.
Now that he is Deputy Assistant Attorney General and – in his words – “wear[ing] a different hat,” Miner largely read from the DOJ’s FCPA script in this speech yesterday.
This post excerpts Miner’s speech and provides various rebuttal points.