Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri On ….
Once again, life follows a certain cycle.
March.
Lots of basketball, the days get longer, and a high-ranking DOJ official speaks at a white-collar crime conference.
First, it was Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco (see here for the prior post). The next day it was Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri at the same conference.
Argentieri framed her speech as a discussion of the “Criminal Division’s unyielding efforts to combat white collar crime” and she discussed the following topics: individual accountability, DOJ corporate enforcement policies, the DOJ’s new forthcoming whistleblower program, and the recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco On ….
Life follows a certain cycle.
March.
Lots of basketball, the days get longer, and a high-ranking DOJ official speaks at a white-collar crime conference.
So it was as Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco delivered this speech at the American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime.
Monaco framed her speech as providing “an update on [the DOJ’s] efforts and tell[ing] you what’s top of mind as we confront today’s corporate enforcement landscape.”
She discussed the following topics: individual accountability, recidivism, and incentives (including a new DOJ whistleblower pilot program).
FCPA “Tips” Continue To Be A Minor Component Of The SEC’s Whistleblower Program
The Dodd-Frank Act enacted in July 2010 contained whistleblower provisions applicable to all securities law violations including those under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In this prior post from July 2010, I predicted that the whistleblower provisions would have a negligible impact on FCPA enforcement. As noted in this prior post, my prediction was an outlier (so it seemed) compared to the flurry of law firm client alerts predicting that the whistleblower provisions would have a significant impact on FCPA enforcement. Many FCPA Inc. participants seemed so eager for a marketing opportunity to sell compliance services, that some even called the generic whistleblower provision the FCPA’s “new” whistleblower provisions.
Former Director of Global Compliance Analytics At Pfizer Files Civil Complaint Against Company Based On Reporting Alleged FCPA Issues
In 2012 Pfizer resolved a $60 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act action concerning conduct in Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Serbia. (See here).
Beginning in 2019, Pfizer disclosed new FCPA scrutiny.
Pfizer disclosed additional FCPA scrutiny in 2020.
Law Firm Claims That The Flutter International Enforcement Action Was “Supported” By A Whistleblower Complaint
Earlier this year, the SEC announced a $4 million FCPA enforcement action against Flutter International (a company headquartered in Ireland) – the successor in interest to The Stars Group (a company that was headquartered in Canada) – based on the finding that the “Company paid approximately $8.9 million to consultants in Russia in support of the Company’s operations and its efforts to have poker legalized in that country.” (See here for the prior post).
The SEC’s order stated:
“By at least 2016, the Company’s Board undertook a review of whether the Company, any of its subsidiaries, or any of its personnel had made improper payments, directly or through external consultants, to government officials in certain foreign jurisdictions. As a result of this review, the Company voluntarily contacted the Commission and other U.S. and Canadian regulators …”.