By Pamela J. Bethel Now that President Obama has used his recess appointment power and installed Richard Cordray as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Cordray has wasted no time in asserting his priorities and getting started with his regulatory agenda. Under the Dodd-Frank law that set up the CFPB to curb...
Tag: Corporate Compliance
Setback in FCPA Case Won’t Cool DOJ’s Ardor for Prosecutions
On Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011, Judge Richard Leon in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia dismissed conspiracy charges against six defendants in the high-profile “Gabon sting” Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case. After 12 weeks of trial in which the government put on its case, the judge found that there was insufficient evidence...
U.S. Announces Recovery of $422 Million in Contract Fraud in FY 2011
By Carol L. O’Riordan The Justice Department announced on Dec. 19, 2011, that it recovered $422 million in fiscal year 2011 in procurement fraud cases. The total amount recovered for procurement fraud in the last three fiscal years exceeds $1.5 billion, a record for any three-year period. It’s clear that procurement and contract fraud are...
Rise in SEC Enforcement Expected to Continue This Year
By Pamela J. Bethel The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division announced on Nov. 9 that it filed an all-time high 735 actions and collected $2.8 billion in penalties in fiscal year 2011. These included, the SEC said, 15 separate actions involving wrongdoing related to the financial crisis. Seventeen individuals were named in such...
Is SEC Rewriting Insider Trading Law?
As we and others have noted lately, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department have taken a new and aggressive attitude towards insider trading. Both in high-profile prosecutions like that of the leaders and employees of the Galleon Group LLC hedge fund, and in more routine civil enforcement actions, it looks to a lot...
Is FCPA Enforcement Under Siege?
Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) seems to be under siege from a number of different directions. We wrote last month about the FCPA convictions of Lindsey Manufacturing and two of its executives in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Since then, however, Judge Howard Matz, presiding over the case, has asked for...
Traders Beware — The SEC Is Watching
The Securities & Exchange Commission is taking a new and aggressive position on insider trading. The message is clear: “Traders beware! We are watching.” Investigators are not only watching; they are using new tactics to hunt new targets, casting their nets to ensnare players both big and small. Several recent investigations and convictions reflect this...
When It Comes to the FCPA, Better to Stay on the Safe Side
Last month, a federal jury in Los Angeles handed down guilty verdicts against all the defendants on trial in the well-publicized Foreign Corrupt Payments (FCPA) case against Lindsey Manufacturing. The results were devastating for the company and the individuals. The CEO and other officials, as well as Lindsey Manufacturing itself, were convicted after only a...