Alex J. Brackett

Alex's practice focuses primarily on advising and supporting corporate and individual clients in the areas of white collar criminal defense and internal investigations. He has a particular focus on export control laws and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), in addition to general white collar defense and corporate compliance matters. His client work has taken him to 21 countries on six continents.

Firm/Organization: McGuireWoods LLP

Blogs: Subject to Inquiry, The FCA Insider

Latest Articles

Subject to Inquiry

What the Venezuela Sanctions May Mean for Future Sanctions Programs

By Alex J. Brackett, Emily P. Gordy, Jeffrey M. Hanna & Patrick Rowan

March 11, 2019

When the Trump Administration designated Venezuelan state-owned oil producer Petreoleos de Venezuela (“PdVSA”) on January 28, 2019, pursuant to preexisting sanctions relating to the political situation created by the Maduro regime, it sent a significant but not unanticipated ripple through the global petroleum markets. The impact of the sanctions for commodities traders and petroleum refiners—particularly in the U.S. Gulf Coast, where PdVSA’s steady supply of heavy crude has long been a sizable staple feedstock—was fairly…

Subject to Inquiry

Second Circuit Clarifies Limits of FCPA’s Extraterritorial Reach

By Patrick Rowan, Alex J. Brackett & Government Investigations Group

September 7, 2018

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit narrowed the reach of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA” or “the Act”) in ruling that the government cannot use aiding and abetting or conspiracy statutes to charge a defendant with violating the FCPA if the defendant is not in the category of persons directly covered by the Act. Defendant Lawrence Hoskins, a UK citizen, worked for a UK subsidiary of Alstom S.A. The government alleged…

Subject to Inquiry

Series of DOJ Enforcement Policy Announcements Provides Promising Guidance

By Alex J. Brackett & Maria B. Earley

May 25, 2018

In a series of key policy announcements between November 2017 and May 2018, the Department of Justice has demonstrated an increasingly coherent perspective on how it will handle key aspects of white collar criminal enforcement. The policies largely reiterate a message federal prosecutors have delivered for years regarding what they want to see from companies that discover misconduct in their ranks: prompt voluntary self-disclosure of violations; full cooperation with DOJ investigations; swift, meaningful remediation; and…

Subject to Inquiry

Congress Votes to Disapprove SEC’s Resource Extraction Disclosure Rule

By Alex J. Brackett & Ryan E. Bonistalli

February 6, 2017

In previous posts, we discussed the potential impact of the SEC’s Resource Extraction Payment Disclosure (Rule 13q-1), including possible FCPA implications and the development of an appropriate compliance plan. After the election, much attention has been given by Congress to the so-called “midnight” agency rules that were adopted in the final months of the Obama Administration, including Rule 13q-1. And, Congress wasted no time disapproving Rule 13q-1. Rule 13q-1 requires issuers involved in the…

Subject to Inquiry

Big Changes Come With The New Form I-9 Published by USCIS

By Susan Rodriguez, Matthew Orso, Jacquelyn Stone, Alex J. Brackett & Government Investigations Group

November 14, 2016

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has officially published the long awaited revised Form I-9. The new Form I-9 and instructions can be found at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9. The clock is now ticking— While employers may begin using the new Form I-9 immediately, all employers are required to implement use of the newly revised Form I-9 by January 22, 2017. All previous versions of Form I-9 will be invalid after this January date. The new…

Subject to Inquiry

Identifying Enforcement Innovations to Prepare for the Post-Yates Enforcement Environment

By Alex J. Brackett & James Neale

October 31, 2016

During a recent webinar sponsored by the Washington Legal Foundation, we explored the impacts intensive individual-focused criminal enforcement can have on an industry, using the recent history of criminal enforcement of food safety laws as a case study. The individual prosecutions we discussed in that context were based in large part on application of the Park doctrine, a broad and powerful food safety-specific formulation of the responsible corporate officer doctrine that has returned to…

Subject to Inquiry

A Compliance Plan for the Extractive Industries Payment Disclosure Rule

By Alex J. Brackett & Ryan E. Bonistalli

September 28, 2016

In the prior post we described the SEC’s new Rule 13q-1 that took effect on Monday (September 26). In this post, we discuss steps covered companies should take to comply with the rule. To review: Rule 13q-1 requires issuers involved in the commercial development of oil, natural gas and minerals to disclose payments they, their subsidiaries and other companies under their control make to the U.S. federal government and to non-U.S. governments in connection…

Subject to Inquiry

How to prepare for the SEC’s Resource Extraction Disclosure Rule

By Alex J. Brackett & Ryan E. Bonistalli

September 26, 2016

After a long and tortured route through the courts, the SEC’s final rule implementing Dodd-Frank’s Resource Extraction Payment Disclosure requirement took effect today. Many have watched and commented on the new Rule 13q-1, and for good reason. It is likely to have a significant impact — at least in the short term — on the companies required to make disclosures under it. While it does present some risk of unearthing corrupt payments that could…

Subject to Inquiry

Increased Fines on the Horizon for Immigration Law Violations

By Matthew Orso, Susan Rodriguez, Alex J. Brackett & Government Investigations Group

July 7, 2016

The Department of Justice has raised the bar on penalties for violations of federal immigration law. On June 30, 2016, DOJ issued an interim final rule that goes into effect on August 1, 2016. This rule, implemented as an inflation adjustment, increases the fines for employing unauthorized workers, for Form I-9 paperwork violations, and for immigration-related discrimination. These new fines increase the penalties from 35% to 96% depending on the nature and severity of the…

Subject to Inquiry

The Export/Immigration Dilemma: Don’t Let OSC Catch Your HR Department Unawares

By Alex J. Brackett, Patrick Rowan, Christopher M. Michalik, Matthew Orso, Susan Rodriguez & Government Investigations Group

May 5, 2016

On March 31, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) issued a carefully worded technical assistance letter addressing the complex interplay between U.S. immigration and export control laws in the context of hiring and applicant screening. Although it provides limited new guidance, OSC’s letter is a reminder of the pitfalls companies of all sizes face in trying to navigate the overlapping requirements of these laws. The…

Alex J. Brackett

What the Venezuela Sanctions May Mean for Future Sanctions Programs

Second Circuit Clarifies Limits of FCPA’s Extraterritorial Reach

Series of DOJ Enforcement Policy Announcements Provides Promising Guidance

Congress Votes to Disapprove SEC’s Resource Extraction Disclosure Rule

Big Changes Come With The New Form I-9 Published by USCIS

Identifying Enforcement Innovations to Prepare for the Post-Yates Enforcement Environment

A Compliance Plan for the Extractive Industries Payment Disclosure Rule

How to prepare for the SEC’s Resource Extraction Disclosure Rule

Increased Fines on the Horizon for Immigration Law Violations

The Export/Immigration Dilemma: Don’t Let OSC Catch Your HR Department Unawares

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