Corporate Compliance

December 10, 2019

New York passed a cybersecurity and data breach law, effective October 23, and it expands many cybersecurity requirements to not only businesses operating in New York, but also those operating outside of the state. The SHIELD Act, as it is called, expands the scope of the current law by requiring covered entities to adopt a comprehensive data protection program and comply with additional data breach notification requirements. The SHIELD Act expands the definition of private…

Money Laundering Watch

IRS CI Highlights International Efforts to Tackle Cryptocurrency Abuse, Money Laundering and Tax Evasion

By Peter D. Hardy, Alicia M. Went & Shauna Pierson

December 9, 2019

ABA Tax Fraud Panel to Discuss IRS CI and Crypto Criminals The Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) has made it clear that it is focusing on the abuse of digital currencies to further tax evasion, money laundering, and other offenses. IRS-CI also has made it clear that this is an international effort, and that it is trying to partner with law enforcement agencies across the globe in order to coordinate and share…

Hanzo Blog

Collaboration Platforms: Great for Collaborating, Problematic for Ediscovery and Compliance

By Brad Harris

December 9, 2019

Most knowledge work these days demands some form of collaboration. You draft a document; your colleagues comment on it and make suggestions for how it could be better. You chat on Slack about how to incorporate those comments. You check off the task in your project management software and let your associate know that the project is ready for her to take over. New solutions for collaboration are everywhere in modern business, including tools like…

Money Laundering Watch

U.S. Treasury and DOJ Target “Evil Corp”

By Peter D. Hardy

December 6, 2019

treasury-department-sign-in-washington-dc-facade-picture-id519393814

Organization Excels at Niche Branding but Stumbles in Avoiding Enforcement The first paragraph of the press release sums it up: Today the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against Evil Corp, the Russia-based cybercriminal organization responsible for the development and distribution of the Dridex malware. Evil Corp has used the Dridex malware to infect computers and harvest login credentials from hundreds of banks and financial institutions in over 40 countries,…

Money Laundering Watch

Banking Regulators Ease SAR Reporting Requirements Applied to Hemp-Related Businesses

By Terence M. Grugan & Beth Moskow-Schnoll

December 5, 2019

On December 3, 2019, four federal agencies – the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) – along with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, released a statement (the “Statement”) “to provide clarity regarding the legal status of commercial growth and production of hemp and relevant requirements for banks under…

Franchise Law Update

Happy Holidays? More challenges in franchising

By Natalma M. McKnew

December 2, 2019

It’s the holiday season, but franchise lawyers may find little in recent events to celebrate. The challenges just keep on coming! Most recently, we’ve been challenged by California’s AB5 legislation and Dynamex decision, the DOJ’s brief foray into challenging “no poach” provisions and the State of Washington’s energetic embrace of that campaign. Unfortunately, recent developments are not encouraging. On the mildly positive side the DOJ’s antitrust chief testified in hearings before the House that no…

The Corporate Compliance and White Collar Advisor

Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Claims are Arbitrable, Second Circuit Holds

By Alyssa M. Toft

December 2, 2019

In a win for employers, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that whistleblower claims under the Dodd-Frank Act are arbitrable. Daly v. Citigroup Inc., 939 F.3d 415 (2d Cir. 2019). The Second Circuit also held that a plaintiff’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies related to a Sarbanes-Oxley Act claim serves as a jurisdictional bar, warranting dismissal of the claim. Overview The plaintiff, a former employee, brought suit against the employer alleging, among other…

Delaware Chancery Law Blog

Delaware Supreme Court Justices Confirmed by Delaware Senate

By Carl Neff

November 30, 2019

The Delaware Senate recently confirmed Governor John Carney’s nominees to serve as the Chief Justice and Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. In October of 2019, former Associate Justice Collins Seitz, Jr. was nominated by the Governor to replace Leo. E. Strine, Jr. as the Chief Justice, in light of the latter’s retirement. Tamika Montgomery-Reeves, who previously served as a Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery since 2015, was nominated to replace…

Money Laundering Watch

Westpac Banking Corporation Faces Money Laundering Scandal in the Land Down Under

By Gretchen L. Gurstelle

November 29, 2019

Bank Accused of Being Asleep at the AML-CTF Switch On November 20, 2019, AUSTRAC, Australia’s anti money-laundering (“AML”) and counter-terrorism financing (“CTF”) regulator, initiated an action in the Federal Court of Australia seeking civil penalty orders against Westpac Banking Corporation (“Westpac”), Australia’s second largest retail bank, alleging systemic failures to comply with Australia’s AML-CTF laws. Specifically, AUSTRAC alleges over 23 million breaches of those laws, including activity involving potential child exploitation. As we will discuss,…

The Corporate Compliance and White Collar Advisor

Over $2 Billion in Sanctions Ordered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

By Alyssa M. Toft

November 21, 2019

In its 2019 Annual Report to Congress, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) whistleblower program announced a “momentous milestone”: The SEC has ordered over $2 billion in sanctions since the inception of the whistleblower program. The Report outlined other key statistics from FY 2019. Approximately $60 million was awarded to eight individuals in FY 2019. Further, the Commission received over 5,200 tips in FY 2019, representing “the second largest number of…