Category: FCPA Inc.

Friday Roundup

Scrutiny alert, on cue, across the pond, survey says, and for the reading stack.  It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Scrutiny Alert

According to various Nigerian media reports (here and here):

“A group which goes by the name: Concerned Itsekiri Coastal Dwellers Association, CICDA, has petitioned the United States, US Department of Justice, Criminal Division over alleged fraudulent and corrupt practices by some Delta state government officials with Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL.”

In 2007 ,Chevron agreed to pay $30 million to resolve an FCPA enforcement action in connection with the Iraq Oil for Food program (see here).

On Cue

“Given the allegations and findings, it is curious why SB even voluntarily disclosed the conduct at issue to the SFO, particularly in light of Sec. 7′s adequate procedures defense.

But then again, counsel to SB (like counsel in other FCPA or related internal investigations) no doubt secured substantially more in legal fees by making the disclosure (compared to the other reasonable alternative of not disclosing and remedying any internal control deficiencies) plus the deferred prosecution agreement comes with post-enforcement action compliance obligation. Moreover, counsel achieved name recognition by being the first law firm to represent a Sec. 7 corporate defendant and secure a DPA on behalf of its client. (One can only imagine the speaking opportunities in the future for “how they did it”).”

Friday Roundup

Top blog, event notice, scrutiny alerts and updates, what do DOJ FCPA attorneys do, quotable, and for the reading stack.  It’s all here in the Friday Roundup.

Top Blog

I am pleased to share that FCPA Professor has been honored by the American Bar Association as a “Top 100 Blawg.”  (See here).

Described by others as “the Wall Street Journal concerning all things FCPA-related,” and “the most authoritative source for those seeking to understand and apply the FCPA,” FCPA Professor has previously been named a Top Law Blog for in-house counsel by Corporate Counsel and a Top 25 Business Law Blog by LexisNexis.  FCPA Professor readers include a world-wide audience of attorneys, business and compliance professionals, government agencies, scholars and students, journalists and other interested persons.

Event Notice

I will be participating in a free telephonic event on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at 3pm EST. Sponsored by the Young Advocates and Criminal Litigation Committees of the ABA, the event is titled: “Ask the Professor: What You Need to Know About Anti-Bribery Laws.”

The event will be moderated by Terra Reynolds (Paul Hastings). Click here to learn more and to register.

Scrutiny Alerts and Updates

British American Tobacco

The company, with ADRs traded in the U.S., was recently the focus of this in-depth piece by the BBC. According to the article:

“[T]he BBC obtained hundreds of documents that reveal how BAT employees bribed politicians, public officials and even people working for a rival company in Africa. […] In 2012, BAT lobbyist Julie Adell-Owino arranged bribes totalling US$26,000 for three public officials in Rwanda, Burundi and the Comoros Islands. All three officials were connected to a United Nations effort to reduce the number of tobacco related deaths.”

As highlighted in this prior post, in 2010 U.S. tobacco companies Alliance One and Universal Corporation resolved FCPA enforcement based on alleged improper payments, including in Africa.

J.P. Morgan

The Wall Street Journal focuses on J.P. Morgan’s FCPA scrutiny for its alleged hiring practices in China. According to the article, J.P. Morgan hired 222 candidates under a program known internally as “Sons and Daughters.” The article makes much of the alleged fact that 45% of the hires were referred by Chinese government officials or employees of state-owned companies.  However, according to the article, an equal percentage (44%) were nongovernmental referrals – an issue that could be relevant to corrupt intent.

Vimpelcom

This recent post highlighted Vimpelcom’s disclosure of a $900 million reserve in connection with its FCPA and related scrutiny. The prior post noted that the disclosure was ambiguous as to the various components of the $900 million.

Bloomberg reports:

Vimpelcom “is in talks to pay about $775 million — a near record — to settle U.S. allegations it paid bribes in Uzbekistan to win business, according to three people familiar with the matter. The Amsterdam-based company’s resolution with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission could be announced in January, said the people, who asked not to be identified because details of the proposed settlement aren’t public.”

Bloomberg also goes in-depth into the burgeoning Uzbekistan telecom scandal here.

PTC

The company (formerly known as Parametric Technology) has been under FCPA scrutiny since 2011 and recently disclosed:

“We have been in discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve an investigation concerning expenditures by our business partners in China and by our China business, including for travel and entertainment, that apparently benefited employees of customers regarded as state owned enterprises in China. This matter involves issues regarding compliance with laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. We have recorded liabilities of $28.2 million as a result of our agreements in principle with those agencies to settle the matter. There can be no assurance that we will enter into final settlements on the agreed terms with these agencies or, if not, that the cost of any final settlements, if reached, would not exceed the existing accrual. Further, any settlement or other resolution of this matter could have collateral effects on our business in China, the United States and elsewhere.”

 Wal-Mart

The media continues to gush over Wal-Mart’s FCPA scrutiny.  In the latest example, the Wall Street Journal reports:

“A U.S. investigation into potential foreign bribery by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has unearthed evidence of possible misconduct by the retailer in Brazil, after investigators found little to support the sweeping allegations involving Mexico that initially prompted the probe, according to documents and people familiar with the matter. Federal prosecutors are examining $500,000 in payments that they believe ultimately went to an individual hired to obtain government permits the company needed to build two stores in Brasília, Brazil’s capital, between 2009 and 2012, an investigative document shows.”

What do DOJ FCPA Attorneys Do?

To the extent a job listing is an accurate depiction, this is what DOJ FCPA attorneys do:

“The Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, is seeking qualified, experienced attorneys for two-year renewable term positions in the Fraud Section located in Washington, DC. The incumbent will serve as a Trial Attorney in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit or the Securities & Financial Fraud Unit (SFF) and, as such, will independently direct, conduct, and monitor investigations, prepare for and conduct trials, and advise on pleadings and other court filings.

Generally, as a Trial Attorney in the FCPA Unit or the SFF Unit, the incumbent:

• In collaboration with unit managers, carries out and fosters effective investigations and prosecutions, including advising on strategy and legal complexities, and developing litigation priorities, policy, and legislative recommendations. Recommends charging decisions and proposes dispositions with regard to assigned cases.
• Partners with and leads Assistant U.S. Attorneys and attorneys in other federal law enforcement agencies in the development, management and trial of complex white collar and corporate investigations and prosecutions. Engages in all phases of investigation and litigation, including, but not limited to, using the grand jury, advising federal law enforcement agents, utilizing international evidence collection tools, preparing appropriate pleadings, and litigating motions and trials before U.S. District Courts across the country.
• Collaborates with foreign prosecutors and foreign law enforcement officers on international investigations.
• Evaluates reports of potential violations of the FCPA / securities and financial fraud laws from both internal and outside sources to determine whether investigation is warranted.
• Advises and instructs Assistant U.S. Attorneys on complicated questions of law and Departmental policy with respect to the FCPA / securities and financial fraud laws.
• Represents the United States in direct negotiations and discussions with corporate counsel and high-level officials. Participates in discussions with opposing counsel for defendants and in the formulation of settlements often having far-reaching legal consequences.
• Advises and consults with the Assistant Attorney General, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Section Chief, et al., reporting on the status of all cases and matters related to civil/criminal remedies.
• Serves as an expert, providing advice and policy determinations in matters involving the planning, discussion and coordination of the activities related to the investigation and litigation of FCPA cases. Oversees the preparation and litigation assignments of lower graded attorneys, paralegals and clerical personnel.”

Quotable

One thing high-ranking DOJ officials most certainly do is give numerous speeches.

In the latest example, DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sung-Hee Suh delivered this keynote address at the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s inaugural Global White Collar Crime Institute in Shanghai (an event, I am pleased to say, was organized by my Southern Illinois University School of Law colleague Professor Lucian Dervan).

Set forth below is an expert of Suh’s address.

On internal investigations:

“Until last year, I worked for 15 years in private practice representing companies – often in the context of criminal or regulatory investigations. I believe I have a good sense of the challenges that companies and their counsel face in determining the appropriate scope of an internal investigation. But some of those challenges appear to stem from a misperception that the longer and more expensive and more resource intensive the company’s internal investigation, the more favorably the government will view the company’s cooperation. But broad, aimless investigations by a company – just as by the government – are counter-productive. As we in the Criminal Division have long emphasized, and continue to stress today, an investigation should be narrowly focused on getting to the bottom of what happened, identifying who within the company was involved, and – if the company seeks cooperation credit — providing that information to us on a timely basis.”

On transparency:

“[W]e understand that it has not always been clear why the Department required a corporate entity to plead guilty to resolve a criminal case, as opposed to a deferred or non-prosecution agreement, or why we declined to pursue a criminal resolution altogether with another corporate entity that engaged in similar misconduct. I have also heard companies and their counsel say that they have no idea how the government’s monetary resolutions were arrived at – that it sometimes appears as if the government just picks these numbers out of thin air. Also notable has been the trend among companies over the last several years against voluntary self-reporting, including – and perhaps especially – in the FCPA space, in part due to what is perceived, as noted during this morning’s sessions, that there is little or no benefit to self-reporting. Some lawyers have advised their clients that it’s simply more rational to wait to see if the government comes knocking and then cooperate if and when that happens.”

[…]

“[T]o those companies that are disinclined to self-report in the belief that the government will never know – I say, think again. In the anti-corruption space, the Fraud Section and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are deploying significantly more resources to detect and prosecute companies that choose not to self-disclose in FCPA cases. We’re hiring an additional 10 prosecutors in the FCPA Unit, an increase of over 50%, and the FBI has established three new squads devoted to international corruption investigations and prosecutions.”

On compliance programs:

“No compliance program is foolproof. We understand that. We also appreciate that the challenges of implementing an effective compliance program are compounded by the everincreasing cross-border nature of business and of criminal activity. Many companies’ businesses are all over the world. They are creating products and delivering services not only here in China but overseas and are operating across many different legal regimes and cultures. We also recognize that a smaller company doesn’t have the same compliance resources as a Fortune-50 company. Finally, we know that a compliance program can seem like “state of the art” at a company’s U.S. headquarters, but may not be all that effective in the field, especially in far-flung reaches of the globe.”

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For your viewing pleasure, a video of a roundtable with new DOJ compliance counsel Hui Chen and DOJ Fraud Section Chief Andrew Weissmann.  The first portion of the event consisted of the DOJ officials respond to (likely scripted) questions by a moderator, the second portion – when the video recorder was turned off – consisted of the DOJ officials responding to audience questions.

Reading Stack

I did not come up with the title of the entry or its narrative, but I did answer the questions posed to me in this Corporate Crime Reporter entry about the political aspects of FCPA enforcement as well as questions about an FCPA compliance defense – a defense I have long advocated for (see here for the article “Revisiting a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Compliance Defense.”

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A Wall Street Journal op-ed by Professor Lucian Dervan titled “The Injustice of the Plea-Bargaining System.”

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A good weekend to all.

The Pressing Need For Diligence In The FCPA Space

In running FCPA Professor for over six years, I literally search for FCPA content every day. There is a lot of good stuff out there that is frequently highlighted on these pages.

There is also a lot of not so good stuff out there and I have frequently lamented (see here, here, here and here) about the pressing need for diligence in the FCPA space.

It’s as if certain outlets or commentators believe they possess a de facto license or privilege to say whatever they want to say without the need for context, without the need for original source support, and without the need for diligence to make sure claimed sources actually support the point attempted to be made.

One of the most egregious examples I’ve seen of late is this Corporate Counsel article that amounts to little more than a law firm “puff piece.” The headline reads “Covington Saves Small Company From FCPA Peril” and the article states in full:

“When a small oil exploration company came under investigation for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it could have been the end. Houston-based Hyperdynamics had a single asset: the concession to drill for oil off the coast of Guinea in West Africa. But in 2013, it was hit with a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice seeking information about how the company got the concession, followed by another from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s drilling partner initially said the existence of the investigation justified a refusal to proceed with the drilling. And then, there was the Ebola crisis. By January 2015, Hyperdynamics’ stock price had declined by 85 percent; in February 2015, it was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. For help, Hyperdynamics turned to a team at Covington & Burling led by partner Nancy Kestenbaum, along with Lanny Breuer and Barbara Hoffman. The strategy, according to the firm: “real-time, extensive cooperation with the government, including frank discussions of the company’s finances and prospects, to try to resolve the investigations quickly enough to allow the company to survive and get back to drilling for oil.” It worked. In May, the DOJ closed its investigation without bringing any charges. And on Tuesday, the company settled with the SEC, agreeing to pay a $75,000 penalty for alleged books and records violations, without admitting wrongdoing. The settlement didn’t even merit a press release from the SEC. In the administrative order settling the case, the SEC said Hyperdynamics failed to accurately record $130,000 in public relations and lobbying expenses in 2007-2008. The payments were listed as being made to unrelated third parties, but the company later determined that an employee in Guinea controlled the entities.”

Um excuse me but … as noted in this prior post, according to Hyperdynamics, the company spent $12.7 million on its FCPA investigation. How can a journalist write a story about a law firm “saving” a company and how the law firm’s strategy “worked” without mentioning this relevant fact?

Another recent example involved a commentator claiming that the SEC’s “broken windows” enforcement policy  (in other words the SEC is pursuing even the smallest securities law violations to send a deterrent message) is “showing FCPA results.”

Um excuse me but … one-third of SEC corporate enforcement actions thus far in 2015 thus far (and 57% in 2014)  were the result of corporate voluntary disclosures. The notion that the SEC “is policing the beat, and vigorously pursuing” small FCPA violations pursuant to a “broken windows” policy would seem not to apply to voluntary disclosures where the SEC largely just processes corporate voluntary disclosures. Moreover, the SEC FCPA enforcement actions from 2015 (and 2014) that were not the apparent result of voluntary disclosures began years ago – long before the “broken window” enforcement theory was declared in October 2013.

Another recent example involved a commentator claiming that the generally low level of FCPA enforcement thus far in 2015 is the result of “declinations” (whatever that term means) based on corporate voluntary disclosures and cooperation. The commentator then proceeded to list four “declinations” by either the DOJ or DOJ and SEC (Gold Fields Ltd., Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc., Hyperdynamics, and BHP Billiton) to support the assertions.

Um excuse me but … none of the above FCPA inquiries were believed to be the result of corporate voluntary disclosures. Moreover, two of the inquiries (Gold Fields and Net 1) were presumably launched after foreign media reports. Moreover, every time there is a claimed “declination” of anti-bribery charges involving a foreign company (such as BHP Billiton) commentators rarely mention that such a company can only become subject to the anti-bribery provisions to the extent the conduct has a U.S. nexus.  There was absolutely no U.S. nexus alleged by the SEC in the BHP action.

What is happening in the FCPA space is really no different than what is happening in other spaces in this age of reactionary commentary and journalism.

Whether it is media coverage of politics, citizen-police interactions, or FCPA issues, the narrative seems to matter more than the facts.

Specific to the FCPA space, it must be acknowledged that certain FCPA sites serve as billboards for FCPA Inc.

It must also be recognized that much of FCPA media reporting is done by FCPA Inc. participants themselves in search of convenient hooks to sell their own FCPA related compliance products or services.  For instance, the Wall Street Journal is owned by Dow Jones & Company which has its own Risk & Compliance Division which offers “data solutions … designed to help [companies] mitigate regulatory, commercial and reputational risks” including anti-bribery and corruption.  Likewise, Thomson Reuters, a large international news agency with multiple publications, offers Thomson Reuters Accelus which markets and sells so-called solutions for enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) management, including anti-bribery and corruption. In short, many FCPA media sources have, just like the FCPA Inc. participants providing investigative and compliance services, a vested business interest in making FCPA enforcement appear more robust than it actually is and creating convenient narratives.

The end result is often an FCPA “echo chamber” of sorts in which FCPA Inc. narratives are repeated by many media outlets (on the assumption that the narratives are accurate), readers of such media sources view the FCPA narratives as being accurate because they appear in apparent reputable sources, and then others interested in FCPA topics cite to the media sources for evidence that the narratives are true.

In Freakonomics it was noted:

“Journalists need experts as badly as experts need journalists.  Every day there are newspaper pages and television newscasts to be filled, and an expert who can deliver a jarring piece of wisdom is always welcome.  Working together, journalists and experts are the architects of much conventional wisdom.”

However, often in the FCPA space the conventional wisdom is wrong.

A Government Required Transfer Of Shareholder Wealth To FCPA Inc.?

This is the third time FCPA Professor has highlighted this specific topic.

The prior two posts (here and here) were in connection with FCPA enforcement actions against healthcare companies Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer and the “enhanced compliance obligations” imposed upon the companies in resolving an FCPA enforcement action.

In last week’s FCPA enforcement action against Bristol-Myers (BMS), the SEC also imposed enhanced compliance obligations on the company as a condition of settlement.

Specifically, the SEC order requires BMS tp “report to the Commission periodically, at no less than nine-month intervals during a two-year term, the status of its FCPA and anticorruption related remediation and implementation of compliance measures.”

The order also requires BMS to “undertake two follow-up reviews and submit written reports relating to [its] remedial efforts to devise and maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to detect and prevent violations of the FCPA and other applicable anticorruption laws.”

Are the post-enforcement action requirements imposed on BMS really necessary?

After all, in the same order, under the heading “Remedial Efforts,” the SEC stated:

“BMS has implemented significant measures to enhance its anti-bribery and general compliance training and policies and to strengthen its accounting and monitoring controls relating to interactions with HCPs, including travel and entertainment expenses, meetings, sponsorships, grants, and donations funded by BMS China. BMS took numerous steps to improve the internal controls and compliance program at BMS China. Examples include a 100% pre-reimbursement review of all expense claims; the implementation of an accounting system designed to track each expense claim, including the request, approval, and payment of each claim; and the retention of a third-party vendor to conduct surprise checks at events sponsored by sales representatives. Additionally, BMS terminated over ninety employees, and disciplined an additional ninety employees, including sales representatives and managers of BMS China, who failed to comply with or sufficiently supervise compliance with relevant policies. In addition, BMS replaced certain BMS China officers as part of an overall effort to enhance “tone at the top” and a culture of compliance. Further, BMS revised the compensation structure for BMS China employees by reducing the portion of incentive-based compensation for sales and distribution, eliminated gifts to HCPs, implemented enhanced due diligence procedures for third-party agents, implemented monitoring systems for speaker fees and third-party events, and incorporated risk assessments based on data analytics into its compliance program.”

Again, are the post-enforcement action requirements imposed on BMS really necessary?

Or is this another example of a boundless and unconstrained government required transfer of shareholder wealth to FCPA Inc.?

Such post-enforcement action reporting obligations are, of course, lucrative for FCPA Inc.  Hence one of the reasons you probably do not see those in the industry raising concerns about the emerging trend of “enhanced compliance obligations.”

Yet such concerns should be raised and have been raised here for a third time.

For additional reading about the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer post-enforcement action “enhanced compliance compliance obligations” see “FCPA Ripples.”

Friday Roundup

Scrutiny alerts and updates, asset recovery, Fokker DPA appeal, Holder to private practice, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Scrutiny Alerts and Updates

Former Yara Executives

Reuters reports:

“A Norwegian court sentenced four former top executives at Yara, the world’s biggest nitrate fertilizer maker, to prison on Tuesday for paying bribes in Libya and India, in one of Norway’s biggest corruption scandals. Prosecutors had accused the men of paying around $8 million in bribes to officials in Indiaand Libya – including to the family of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s oil minister and the family of a financial adviser in India’s Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers – for the right to establish joint ventures. Former CEO Thorleif Enger got the longest sentence of three years. His lawyer said he would appeal the sentence. Former chief legal officer Kendrick Wallace was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison, while former head of upstream activities Tor Holba and former deputy CEO Daniel Clauw were both given two-year jail terms years, court documents showed.”

For more on the underlying Libya investigations, see here.

Cerberus Capital Management

Cerberus Capital Management has been the subject of several recent media articles (see here and here for instance) concerning its purchase of a portfolio of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) in 2014 in Northern Ireland.  According to reports:

“Northern Irish politicians have called for an investigation after a politican in Dublin alleged that Belfast law firm Tughans had £7m in an account, ‘reportedly earmarked for a Northern Ireland politician’.”

Tughans was engaged as local counsel by Brown Rudnick in connection with its representation of Cerberus. In response to the scrutiny, Brown Rudnick released this statement.

Asset Recovery

The DOJ recently filed this civil forfeiture complaint seeking “£22 million in British pounds (approximately $34 million at current exchange rates) that represent the value of 4,000,000 founders’ shares in Griffiths Energy International Inc. (“Griffiths Energy”), and that are traceable to, and involved in the laundering of, bribe payments made to Chadian diplomats …”.

According to the complaint, Griffiths Energy gave Mahamoud Adam Bechir (“Bechir”), Chad’s ambassador to the United States and Canada from approximately 2004 to 2012, and others “valuable company shares in exchange for Bechir exercising his official influence over the award to the company of lucrative oil development rights in Chad.”

The recent action is the second DOJ civil action filed in connection with the Griffiths Energy matter.  (See here).

See here for the prior post regarding the underlying Canadian enforcement action against Griffiths Energy.

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As highlighted in this Bloomberg article:

“The Justice Department is seeking to seize $300 million claimed to be the proceeds of an international bribery conspiracy involving two Russian phone companies, as the U.S. joins a group of European nations in a telecom corruption probe. The U.S. claims VimpelCom Ltd., part-owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, and Mobile TeleSystems OJSC used a web of shell companies and phony consulting contracts to funnel bribes to a close relative of Uzbekistan’s president, Islam Karimov, in exchange for access to that country’s telecommunications market. The assets sought by the U.S., in a complaint filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, are held in Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in Ireland, Luxembourg and Belgium. VimpelCom said in March 2014 that its Amsterdam headquarters had been raided by Dutch prosecutors and that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission demanded documents as part of the probe into its business.”

Fokker DPA Appeal

This previous post concerned the pending D.C. Circuit appeal of the DOJ – Fokker Services deferred prosecution agreement. Recently David Debruin (Jenner & Block), the court appointed amicus, filed this brief.

Regarding the following issue: “whether the District Court abused its discretion by denying the parties’ motion to exclude time under the Speedy Trial Act […] which provides for the exclusion of a period of delay pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement “with the approval of the court.”, the brief states in pertinent part:

“If the Court reaches the merits, it should hold that the District Court had the authority to consider the substantive fairness of the DPA. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(2), a DPA requires “approval of the court.” The plain text of this provision grants a district court the discretion to consider the substantive fairness of a DPA before approving it. The parties argue that a district court may reject a DPA only if it concludes that the parties are using the DPA as a pretext for a continuance, but that artificial restriction on judges’ discretion finds no basis in § 3161(h)(2). The legislative history, structure, and purpose of the Speedy Trial Act similarly confirm a district court’s discretion to consider a DPA’s substantive fairness.

Contrary to the parties’ contentions, the District Court’s rejection of the DPA poses no separation-of-powers problem. The District Court’s order does not force the Government to pursue a criminal prosecution. The Government remains free to negotiate a new DPA, try its case, or dismiss the charges. Prosecutorial discretion does not confer upon the Government the right to force a judge to exclude time from the Speedy Trial Act clock for 18 months. A district court order excluding time under the Speedy Trial Act is a judicial act, and separation-ofpowers principles give a judge the authority and the obligation to exercise independent judgment in performing that judicial act. If the Government had wanted to avoid judicial involvement, it should have signed a non-prosecution agreement; by instead choosing to invoke judicial process and filing a motion to exclude time under the Speedy Trial Act, it cannot now characterize the District Court’s denial of that motion as a separation-of-powers violation.

On the merits, the District Court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the DPA. FSBV willfully violated the U.S. sanctions regime over 1,000 times and repeatedly provided assistance to the Iranian military. Yet under the DPA, as long as it agreed to pay back the revenues it earned and promised not to break the law, it would get off scot-free. The District Court’s conclusion that the DPA was grossly disproportionate to FSBV’s conduct was entirely reasonable.”

Holder to Covington

Recently Covington & Burling announced:

“Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., is returning to Covington as a partner after more than six years of service as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Mr. Holder will be resident in the firm’s Washington office and focus on complex investigations and litigation matters, including matters that are international in scope and raise significant regulatory enforcement issues and substantial reputational concerns. […] Mr. Holder was a partner at Covington from 2001 until February 2009, when President Obama appointed and the Senate confirmed him as the nation’s 82nd Attorney General.”

Reading Stack

Gibson Dunn’s Mid-Year FCPA Update is here.

Gibson Dunn’s Mid-Year Update on Corporate NPAs and DPAs is here.

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A good weekend to all.