Quotable – “Fear-Mongering Industry”
Hui Chen previously served as “Compliance Counsel Expert” within the DOJ.
She is certainly no fan of Donald Trump as evidenced by her social media posts during the first Trump administration. (See here for the prior post).
After leaving the DOJ, Chen has called out the “lack of precision and intellectual rigor” in much compliance writing and commentary. (See this prior post).
Regarding President Trump’s recent Executive Order “pausing” FCPA enforcement, Chen recently wrote:
Hmmmm …. Interesting
Should a company subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act refuse to hire a law firm that employs an attorney who helped create – while at the DOJ or SEC’s FCPA Unit – the enforcement climate the company is now subject to?
Interesting issue and it would seem that the company in the above scenario would have some legitimate concerns about the issue – particularly given that the enforcement climate created was in part the result of expansive enforcement theories advanced in resolution documents not subject to any meaningful judicial scrutiny.
According to this article, “Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase made clear that it won’t work with law firms that employ former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorneys who led the charge on crypto enforcement suits, singling out Milbank LLP for its hiring of ex-SEC enforcement director Gurbir Grewal.”
Once Again, Rebooting A Long-Standing FCPA Proposal, This Time In The Aftermath Of A Recent Disclosure By Stanley Black & Decker
Including the first time I proposed this concept in 2010, this is the 11th time I have written this general post (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here for the previous versions). Until things change I will keep writing it which means I will probably keep writing this same general post long into the future.
The proposal is this: when a company voluntarily discloses an FCPA internal investigation to the DOJ and/or SEC and when one or both of the enforcement agencies do not bring an enforcement action, have the enforcement agency publicly state, in a thorough and transparent manner, the facts the company disclosed and why the enforcement agency did not bring an enforcement action based on those facts.
As highlighted in this prior post, in early 2023 Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (a manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware and provider of security products) disclosed:
Assistant Chief Of The DOJ’s FCPA Unit To FCPA Inc.
This recent post highlighted how the Assistant Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit went to FCPA Inc.
As sure as the sun rises in the east and dogs bark – and following a well traveled career path – another Assistant Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit is joining a law firm for an FCPA practice.
According to this Mayer Brown release, “Sonali D. Patel has joined the firm as a partner in its Global Investigations & White Collar Defense practice. Sonali previously served as assistant chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit of the Department of Justice.”
Assistant Chief Of The DOJ’s FCPA Unit Goes To FCPA Inc.
As sure as the sun rises in the east and dogs bark – and following a well traveled career path – the Assistant Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit is joining a law firm for an FCPA practice.
According to this Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP release:
“Gerald Moody joins Akin from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, where he was an Assistant Chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit. During his time at the DOJ Fraud Section, Moody led or supervised more than 100 FCPA-related investigations. Moody coordinated regularly with counterparts at domestic and international law enforcement and regulatory agencies, including various U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the SEC, FinCEN and foreign authorities in the United Kingdom, Brazil, France, and Switzerland, among others.”