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Seven years ago this week the New York Times published an article (here) titled “Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle.” The conduct at issue in the Times article related to Wal-Mart’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico (“Wal-Mart Mexico), and suggested that Wal-Mart Mexico “orchestrated a campaign of bribery to win market dominance” and that the entity “paid bribes to obtain permits in virtually every corner” of Mexico. The April 2012 NY…
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Seven years ago this week the New York Times published an article (here) titled “Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle.” The conduct at issue in the Times article related to Wal-Mart’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico (“Wal-Mart Mexico), and suggested that Wal-Mart Mexico “orchestrated a campaign of bribery to win market dominance” and that the entity “paid bribes to obtain permits in virtually every corner” of Mexico. The April 2012 NY…
Cases involving investment advisers are rapidly becoming a key focus for SEC Enforcement. Offering fraud actions are another central focus. In both sets of cases retail investors are typically victimized, losing much of their hard earned savings and pension dollars. In the Matter of Matthew R. Rossi, Adm. Proc. File No. 3-19145 (April 17, 2019) is an action which in many respects combines the elements of each of these types of actions – a dishonest…
The Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance released guidance regarding the process for seeking extensions of confidential treatment.  There is a new short form application for issuers that have previously received a confidential treatment order.  Here is a link to the new short form application:  https://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/short-form-extension-requests.pdf.  The one-page document requires that the issuer affirm that the most recently considered application continues to be true, complete and accurate regarding the information for which the…
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As highlighted towards the end of this post, judicial findings of prosecutorial misconduct and other mishaps have been an all too frequent feature in contested individual FCPA enforcement actions. In this recent filing, Richard Boncy (an individual added to the Haiti port project enforcement action in October 2018) moves to dismiss the indictment “on the basis that the Government has destroyed and otherwise failed to preserve evidence that would show he is innocent of…
Last week the Commission brought an insider trading action against an in-house counsel at SeaWorld. Another insider trading action filed last week involved the Amazon – Whole Foods merger. There the husband misappropriated inside information on the pending deal from his wife who had been entrusted with inside information by a close family member. Now the agency has settled with a corporate executive who breached his obligations to his firm using the corporate information with…
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There are many practical (as well as certain provocative) reasons for the general increase in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement in the modern era. (See Chapter 6 of the book “The FCPA In a New Era” for a full discussion of this topic). As highlighted in this post, 2004 was an important year that saw three developments relevant to the modern era of FCPA enforcement. U.S. v. Kay Prior to the 5th Circuit’s…
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Each January, this website publishes numerous year in review posts (see here). In addition, for the 10th year in a row I authored a more comprehensive Foreign Corrupt Practices Act year in review / recent developments article that is published by a law review or journal. The 2018 version (forthcoming in the Mississippi Law Journal) can be downloaded here. Below is the abstract. “This article, part of a continuing series of yearly analysis of…
Offering fraud actions have become one of the staples of the Enforcement Division. With a focus on protecting retail investors, the Division has initiated a series of these cases which often frequently target unsuspecting seniors and retirees who lose much of their life savings. The Division’s most recent case is a good example of these actions. There over 8,400 investors, many of whom were seniors, entrusted at least $1.22 billion over a five year period…
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Interested in elevating your Foreign Corrupt Practices Act knowledge and practical skills? For professionals in the FCPA space – or wishing to join the FCPA space – this is what the FCPA Institute is all about and the next FCPA Institute will be in Minneapolis on June 20-21st. The FCPA Institute is different than a typical FCPA conference. At the FCPA Institute, information is presented in an integrated and cohesive manner by an expert instructor with FCPA…