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Friday Roundup

By Mike Koehler on December 3, 2021 in Compliance, DOJ, Enforcement Agency Policy, FCPA Inc., Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, Voluntary Disclosure

Guilty plea, off-target, fear-based marketing, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday Roundup.

Guilty Plea

This recent post highlighted the DOJ’s money laundering case against Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares (a citizen of Panama and Italy) and his brother Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares (also a citizen of Panama and Italy), for “participat[ing] in the Odebrecht bribery scheme by, among other things, serving as intermediaries for bribe payments and the provision of other things of value that Odebrecht offered and provided to the Panama Government Official.

Yesterday, the DOJ announced that Luis Martinelli Linares pleaded guilty.

Laughing Out Loud At Certain Portions Of SEC Chair Gensler’s Speech

By Mike Koehler on November 5, 2021 in Cooperation, Enforcement Agency Policy, Enforcement Agency Speeches, Individual Enforcement Action, SEC, Statute of Limitations, Voluntary Disclosure

Yesterday, SEC Chair Gary Gensler delivered this speech.

I literally laughed out loud as to certain portions of Gensler’s speech.

I didn’t laugh because what Gensler said was unreasonable. To the contrary, much of what he said represents sound policy. Rather, I laughed because I have closely followed SEC enforcement practices (and speeches from enforcement agency officials) for over a decade.

Gensler began his speech as follows:

Former DOJ Fraud Section Chief Questions Whether Recent DOJ Policy Pronouncements May Deter Corporate Voluntary Disclosures

By Mike Koehler on November 4, 2021 in Voluntary Disclosure

This prior post highlighted Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s recent speech in which she made various policy pronouncements on behalf of the DOJ relevant to corporate crime investigations and prosecutions.

Sandra Moser (currently a lawyer in private practice at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP) knows a thing or two about DOJ policy relevant to those topics as she previously served as Chief of the DOJ’s Fraud Section.

In this recent Law360 column Moser (and her co-authors) write:

Once Again, Rebooting A Long-Standing FCPA Proposal, This Time In The Aftermath Of A Recent Disclosure By Pactiv Evergreen

By Mike Koehler on August 9, 2021 in FCPA Reform, Pactiv Evergreen, Stericycle, Voluntary Disclosure

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.

Edwards Lifesciences Discloses A Potential FCPA Issue, But Why?

By Mike Koehler on August 3, 2021 in Edwards Lifesciences, Voluntary Disclosure

Edwards Lifesciences, a California based corporation which describes itself as “the global leader in patient-focused medical innovations for structural heart disease, as well as critical care and surgical monitoring” is under Foreign Corrupt Practices Act scrutiny.

In a recent filing, the company disclosed:

“The Company is investigating whether the allocation of certain grants and other payments initiated by certain employees of the Company in Japan violate certain provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). The Company has voluntarily notified the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) that it has engaged outside counsel to conduct this investigation. Any determination that the Company’s operations or activities are not in compliance with existing laws, including the FCPA, could result in the imposition of fines, penalties, and equitable remedies. The Company cannot currently predict the outcome of the investigation or the potential impact on its financial statements.”

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Friday Roundup

Laughing Out Loud At Certain Portions Of SEC Chair Gensler’s Speech

Former DOJ Fraud Section Chief Questions Whether Recent DOJ Policy Pronouncements May Deter Corporate Voluntary Disclosures

Once Again, Rebooting A Long-Standing FCPA Proposal, This Time In The Aftermath Of A Recent Disclosure By Pactiv Evergreen

Edwards Lifesciences Discloses A Potential FCPA Issue, But Why?

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