DPAs and NPAs – Useful Tools to Achieve Compliance

The debate on whether the use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) and Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPAs) has become lively again over the past couple of weeks. Last week, there was a panel hosted by the Corporate Crime Reporter conference at the National Press Club. The panel was moderated by Steven Fagell, a partner at Covington & Burling LLP, and the panelists included Denis McInerney, the Criminal Division’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General, David Uhlmann, the former chief of the Environmental Crimes Section at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and currently a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, the FCPA Professor, Michael Koehler, Kathleen Harris, a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP in London, and Anthony Barkow, a partner at Jenner & Block in New York.

The FCPA Professor wrote about the conference in two posts this week. The second post, entitled “Seeing the Light from the ‘Dark Ages’”, reported on the panel discussion. In this post, the Professor flatly says that DPAs and NPAs should be abolished in the context of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement and that a compliance defense should be added to the FCPA. In the other corner stands Mike Volkov, who said in a recent post, entitled “The Continuing Controversy Over DPAs and NPAs”, that DPAs and NPAs are part of the growing arsenal of prosecutorial tools that can be brought to bear by the DOJ and now the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The Professor previously articulated his views against DPAs and NPAs last fall in a post entitled “Assistant Attorney General Breuer’s Unconvincing Defense Of DPAs / NPAs”. In that post he said that the “use of NPAs or DPAs allow “under-prosecution” of egregious instance of corporate conduct while at the same time facilitate the “over-prosecution” of business conduct.” The ‘under-prosecution’ comes “because they [DPAs and NPAs] do not result in any actual charges filed against a company, and thus do not require the company to plead to any charges, allow egregious instances of corporate conduct to be resolved too lightly without adequate sanctions and without achieving maximum deterrence.” The ‘over-prosecution’ comes “because of the “carrots” and “sticks’ relevant to resolving a DOJ enforcement action often nudge companies to agree to these vehicles for reasons of risk-aversion and efficiency and not necessarily because the conduct at issue actually violates the law.” Volkov, being a former prosecutor, says that “Prosecutors like to have a variety of tools. An up or down decision system – indict or decline to indict – does not give prosecutors any ability to address the hard cases, where they are more inclined to decline prosecution rather than indict.”

However, I am neither a former prosecutor, like Volkov, nor a former white collar defense lawyer, like the Professor. I am a recovering trial lawyer who then went in-house. From this background I think that there is another line of reasoning as to why DPAs and NPAs are useful FCPA compliance enforcement tools and that line of reasoning is certainty. The primary reason for the prosecution and a company entering into a DPA/NPA is certainty. The one thing I learned in almost 20 years of trying cases is that nothing is certain when you leave the final decision to an ultimate trier of fact who is not yourself, whether that trier of fact be a jury, judge or arbitrator. The most important thing for a company is certainty and that is even more paramount when a potential criminal conviction looms over its corporate head. Certainty is equally critical for the prosecution. No matter how ‘slam dunk’ the facts are, or appear to be, once a prosecutor turns over the final decision in a case to another trier of fact; the prosecution has lost certainty in the final decision. Every corporate defendant who goes to trial can and should raise all procedural and factual defenses available to it. No prosecutor can ever be 100% certain that it will win every court ruling or that a guilty conviction will be upheld on appeal. However, a DPA/NPA can bring certainty. For a company, certainty in its rights and obligations, for the prosecution the same is true.

There was another article which considered the panel discussion held at the Corporate Crime Reporter conference entitled “McInerney Defends Deferred and Non Prosecution Agreements”. This article included quotes from David Uhlmann, who said that he believes, “This is about a profound ambivalence in parts of the Department about the very notion of corporate criminality.” Uhlmann believes that it this ambivalence which has driven the use of DPAs. He believes that the DOJ should make an “up or down” decision on whether a corporation should be prosecuted or not. He was quoted as saying “There is no more important role that the Justice Department plays than its role investigating and prosecuting crime. And if the Justice Department believes that a particular case warrants criminal prosecution, it should bring criminal charges. It should not sacrifice criminal prosecution to a private agreement never entered in court, never overseen by a judge in any meaningful way that doesn’t involve any public hearing, that doesn’t involve any corporate officials coming into the courtroom admitting guilt. On the other hand, if the Justice Department doesn’t believe that a criminal prosecution is necessary or warranted, then they should decline. They should decline prosecution in favor of — in most cases they have the option of civil or administrative enforcement.”

The Professor had a slightly different take on the use of DPAs in the context of criminal prosecutions of corporations. He was quoted as saying, “The Department has become so uncomfortable with the traditional notions of corporate criminal liability that they have constructed and indeed championed this alternative reality that is equally problematic.” Further, “These resolutions have had a troubling, distortive and toxic effect on this one area of law,” Koehler concluded. “There is no judicial scrutiny of most fcpa enforcement theories.” And, lastly, “Of course, the Justice Department is in favor of these because it makes their job easier. Of course, the FCPA bar and FCPA Inc. is in favor of these it expands the market for legal services.”

Criminal Division Deputy Assistant Attorney General McInerney made clear that he is not ambivalent at all about corporate criminal liability and specifically stated this. So let me speak from the perspective of a lawyer from Houston, who has represented companies in the energy space for quite some time. The frustration that boiled over from the lack of prosecutions regarding the financial troubles of the recent years should not obscure the fact that the DOJ has and will continue to pursue criminal cases against corporations.

But to paraphrase Joe Jackson, something else is going on ‘round here with prosecutions of corporate criminal conduct and the use of DPAs/NPAs. While one role of the DOJ is to prosecute law breakers; I believe that another role of the DOJ is to increase and encourage compliance with laws. The DPA/NPA debate does not stand in a vacuum. I believe that by offering incentives for companies to self-disclose and cooperate, the DOJ is increasing compliance with the FCPA. If there is no incentive to cooperate, there will be none. Period. If a company will face a criminal indictment or charge if it investigates a matter and self-discloses to the DOJ, how many companies will do so? McInerney was quoted as saying, “You are disincentivizing companies in terms of doing the right thing. You are not crediting companies for doing the right thing.”

Now let me take the flip side; Arthur Anderson. For all the howls that there is no empirical evidence that indicting and convicting companies puts them out of business; I am certainly not persuaded. I saw it happen, here in Houston. Was it in the interest of the US government to put Arthur Anderson out of business? Did it further the policies of this country to go from the Big Four to the Big Three? What about all the Arthur Anderson employees who did not work on the Enron account, what policy did it further to have them lose everything they invested in their professional life? If DPAs/NPAs are less draconian in their effect than destruction of a corporation’s existence, does that make them somehow less useful? If the DOJ wants to put such a factor into their decision making, I find that to be an appropriate calculus.

As to the charge that the FCPA Bar/FCPA Inc. used DPAs/NPAs to expand their market for work? [Full disclosure - I am a member of the FCPA Bar and ergo, FCPA Inc.] I think that it is the job of a lawyer to advise his or her clients on their legal obligations and to assist in fulfilling those obligations. Is it in my own myopic self-interest to advocate compliance with the FCPA? Or am I a part of the FCPA Bar and Inc. which assists companies to comply with a now 35 year old law? Whichever answer you prefer, I believe that there is more compliance now and that the use of DPAs/NPAs is a contributing factor to this increased compliance.

Another panelist, Anthony Barkow posited yet another angle. He said “one the primary policy justifications — or certainly a significant policy justification — is — getting DPAs and NPAs is easy. “It’s a lot easier than charging a company,”” Barkow said. “And it’s a lot easier than charging it and to try to get a plea.” While I do not pretend to know the intricacies of obtaining an indictment or going before a grand jury, it is always easier to settle something rather than try a case. But that does not mean any less work goes on, either from the corporate side or especially from the government side. FCPA enforcement actions are huge, document intensive cases and from what little I know of the process, the DOJ works quite hard to craft an appropriate resolution for each case. Further, there are multiple levels of review in the DOJ so many sets of eyes look at these matters. So while it may be easier to reach a resolution rather than charging and criminally trying a corporation, that does not mean in any way, shape or form that this work is easy. The work is hard, time intensive and takes literally thousands of man-hours by all parties involved to reach any resolution. Simply because a new enforcement tool is available, which is short of a criminal indictment and trial, does not mean that it is not a useful tool and should not be used.

Mike Volkov ended his post with the following, “The debate will continue – I have no doubt of that.” I would certainly second that notion. But from where I sit the use of DPAs/NPAs has improved compliance with the FCPA because their use has given corporations a real incentive to thoroughly investigate allegations of bribery and corruption and then work with the government to appropriately remediate the situation.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2013

PED Cheats and FCPA Violators – Kissing Cousins?

“I never failed a drug test” has become one of the iconic lines of performance enhancing drug (PED) cheats from Lance Armstrong to A-Rod. This denial has a kissing cousin in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) world in the phrase, “He (or she) is not our employee”. How do these two kissing cousins relate to each other? Both phrases are absolutely meaningless when it comes to the underlying conduct. Why? Because we all know (or should know); violations of the FCPA can occur for direct, i.e. your employee, or indirect, i.e. not your employee, conduct.

In the FCPA world, there was a stark example of this reported in two articles in the Weekend Edition of the Financial Times (FT) about the arrest of Frederic Cilins, a French citizen for seeking to obstruct a federal grand jury investigation about alleged FCPA violations. The two articles were “Contracts link BSGR to alleged bribes” (mine rights article) and “FBI sting says that ‘agent’ sought to have mining contracts destroyed” (FBI sting article). Both articles were by the same triumvirate of FT reporters, Tom Burgis, Misha Glenny and Cynthia O’Murchu.

The mine rights article reports that underlying matter revolved around allegations that “The resources arm of Beny Steinmetz Group agreed to pay $2m to the wife of an African president to help it secure rights to one of the world’s richest untapped mineral deposits, according to documents seen by the Financial Times”. These payments were allegedly memorialized in “Copies of two contracts from 2007 and 2008, apparently signed by BSGR’s representatives in the mineral-rich west African nation of Guinea, set out agreements for the company to make payments and transfer shares to Mamadie Touré, wife of the then president Lansana Conté.” As the quid pro quo for these commission payments, “Ms Touré would take “all necessary steps” to advance its efforts to win rights to the Simandou deposit, a February 2008 contract says. A further $2m would be dispersed among other people to facilitate the acquisition of the rights.”     While Mr. Cilins has been described by the Guinean government as “an agent of BSGR” the company was quoted in the article as saying, “Mr Cilins was not one of its employees”.

The mining rights dispute centers around a contract that the company received days before the death of the President of Guinea. The mining rights article also reported that “the Guinean government granted BSGR rights to half the Simandou deposit, having earlier stripped them from rival mining house Rio Tinto. After spending $160m developing its assets in Guinea, 18 months later in April 2010 BSGR sold a 51 per cent stake of its Guinean venture to Vale of Brazil for $2.5bn. One African mining veteran described BSGR’s sale as the “best private mining deal of our generation”.”

As interesting as all of the above is, it was the FBI sting article that had some very interesting details. Before I get to the issues involved I have to cite to yesterday’s blog post by Mike Volkov, entitled “The Danger of FCPA “Proactive” Investigations”, where he stated “At the recent Dow Jones Compliance Symposium in Washington, D.C., an FBI official warned the attendees that the Shot Show debacle would not deter law enforcement from using proactive investigations techniques. It was a stark warning because it was realized in less than thirty days.” Spot on Mike.

The FBI sting article reported that on Sunday April 14, 2013, “Frederic Cilins held the last of a series of meetings with the widow of an African dictator to discuss what she was going to do with some sensitive documents.” Unfortunately for Cilins he “did not realise that the woman he was talking to was wearing a wire and that FBI agents were watching. As he left the meeting, the agents arrested him carrying envelopes filled with $20,000 in cash, the indictment says. That was a pittance compared with the $5m he was taped offering the dictator’s widow during what US authorities say was a two-month campaign to tamper with a witness and destroy records.”

What were these documents that “Cilins was allegedly so keen to destroy”? The FT reported that it had seen “some of the documents” and “According to one copy of a contract seen by the FT, dated February 27 2008 and which appears to be signed by Asher Avidan, BSG Resources’ head in Guinea, the company agreed to pay $4m to secure rights to Simandou. That would be split into $2m to be distributed among “people of goodwill who contribute to facilitating the assignment” of the rights and $2m for a company called Matinda. Ms Touré’s name is listed on the contract and her signature appears on it. She is named in US corporate records as the registered agent of a company also called Matinda, based at a Jacksonville address.”

The FBI sting article also revealed a bit more of the history of the underlying mining rights at issue. The Australian company Rio Tinto “held the rights to the whole of Simandou, a mountain range groaning with iron ore in Guinea’s remote interior, for a decade. But in August that year, the Conté government withdrew the mining group’s concession, saying it had taken too long to develop a mine. In December, just days before the dictator’s death, the government signed over half the rights to Simandou to BSGR. Vale of Brazil, the world’s biggest iron ore miner, bought a 51 per cent in BSGR’s Guinea assets in April 2010. Late last year, as a Guinean government committee levelled corruption allegations against BSGR, Vale put the Simandou project on hold. Earlier this month, it suspended payments on the $2.5bn it agreed to pay for its stake.”

The FBI sting article also reports that BSGR said that “Mr. Cilins was not one of its employees.” However, the FT article reported that the indictment which led to the arrest of Cilins describes “a company that in 2008 acquired rights to half of Guinea’s Simandou iron-ore deposit after it had been stripped from another miner points in one direction: the resources arm of Beny Steinmetz Group, the conglomerate managed on behalf of the family of Israeli diamond tycoon, Beny Steinmetz. Mr Cilins has been described by the Guinean government as an agent of BSGR. The company said Mr Cilins was not one of its employees.” And while “Neither does the indictment identify the woman who has sought immunity from prosecution in exchange for co-operating with the FBI investigation and helping to deliver Mr Cilins. It refers only to a “former wife of a now deceased high-ranking official in the government of Guinea” who was approached by Mr Cilins at the inception of the alleged bribery scheme.”

As the mining rights article noted, “BSGR said in a statement to the FT on Friday: “Allegations of fraud in obtaining our mining rights in Guinea are entirely baseless. We are confident that BSGR’s position in Guinea will be fully vindicated.”” And, of course, there is that ubiquitous “not our employee”. Whatever the real answer is it will be very interesting to see how all this plays out.

What about the obstruction of justice charge? First, it should be noted that this charge is nothing like the charge brought and later dropped against Rose Carson in the Control Components Inc. matter, where it was alleged she destroyed documents before meeting with company investigators. Here the allegations are attempts to destroy documents in the face of a federal investigation. What about the FBI sting part of all this? It looks like what the agent said, as quoted by Mike Volkov in his piece, was very prescient. Maybe the lesson is simply don’t destroy documents or even don’t engage in bribery.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2013

How Does Your Organization Treat Whistleblowers?

As almost everyone knows, Lance Armstrong spoke for the first time about his performance enhancing drug (PED) use recently on Oprah. On the first night he admitted for the first time that he used PEDs during his seven wins at the Tour De France. The title of my colleague Doug Cornelius’ piece in Compliance Building really said it all in his article “Lance Armstrong – A Lying Liar Just Like Madoff”. Cornelius said “What caught my attention about the Armstrong interview was the window into the mind of a pathological liar. Armstrong had been telling the lie over and over and over. He lied to the public. He lied to the press. He lied to cancer survivors. He lied under oath.”

One of the areas which came up for me was how the people who blew the whistle on Armstrong’s use of PEDs before his admission were treated and how Armstrong subsequently treated them. Armstrong admitted that he was a ‘bully’ to those who said, hinted, or even implied that he had taken PEDs. He attacked ex-teammates; wives of ex-teammates and even a masseur who saw him take such substances. He put on an aggressive PR campaign for the better part of the past decade, to which the wife of ex-Tour De France winner Greg LeMond said “I can’t describe to you the level of fear that he brings to a family.”

While I would hope that most American and European companies have moved past the situation where whistleblowers are ostracized or worse threatened, one can certainly remember the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) whistleblower Cheryl Eckard. A 2010 article in the Guardian by Graeme Wearden, entitled “GlaxoSmithKline whistleblower awarded $96m payout”, he reported that Eckard was fired by the company “after repeatedly complaining to GSK’s management that some drugs made at Cidra were being produced in a non-sterile environment, that the factory’s water system was contaminated with micro-organisms, and that other medicines were being made in the wrong doses.” She later was awarded $96MM as her share of the settlement of a Federal Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit. Eckard was quoted as saying, “It’s difficult to survive this financially, emotionally, you lose all your friends, because all your friends are people you have at work. You really do have to understand that it’s a very difficult process but very well worth it.”

More recently there was the example of NCR Corp., as reported in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) by Christopher M. Matthews and Samuel Rubenfeld, in an article entitled “NCR Investigates Alleged FCPA Violations”, who stated that NCR spokesperson Lou Casale said “While NCR has certain concerns about the veracity and accuracy of the allegations, NCR takes allegations of this sort very seriously and promptly began an internal investigation that is ongoing,” regarding whistleblowers claims of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations. In a later WSJ article by Matthews, entitled “NCR Discloses SEC Subpoena Related to Whistleblower”, he reported that NCR also said “NCR has certain concerns about the motivation of the purported whistleblower and the accuracy of the allegations it received, some of which appear to be untrue.”

Lastly, is the situation of two whistleblowers from the British company EADS. As reported by Carola Hoyos in a Financial Times (FT) article, entitled “Emails tell of fears over EADS payments”, Hoyos told the story of two men who notified company officials of allegations of bribery and corruption at the company and who suffered for their actions. The first, Mike Paterson, the then financial controller for an EADS subsidiary GPT, internally reported “unexplained payments to the Cayman Island bank accounts for Simec International and Duranton International, which totaled £11.5M between 2007 and 2009.” Hoyos reported that Paterson was so marginalized in his job that he was basically twiddling his thumbs all day at work.

The second whistleblower was Ian Foxley, a retired British lieutenant-colonel, who had joined the company in the spring of 2010 stationed in Saudi Arabia, to oversee a £2M contract between the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Saudi Arabian National Guard. In December 2010, Foxley discovered some of the concerns which Mike Paterson had raised. According to Hoyos, “The morning after he discovered Mr. Paterson’s concerns he assessed the emails that Mr. Paterson had told him he had written over the previous three years.” This led Foxley to flee Saudi Arabia with documents of these suspicious payments, which he has turned over to the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

What does the response of any of these three companies say about the way that it treats whistleblowers? Is it significantly different from the bullying Armstrong admitted he engaged in during his campaign to stop anyone who claimed that he was doping? While I doubt that companies will ever come to embrace whistleblowers, the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) recent FCPA Guidance stated that “An effective compliance program should include a mechanism for an organization’s employees and others to report suspected or actual misconduct or violations of the company’s policies on a confidential basis and without fear of retaliation.” However, by marginalizing, attacking or even making a whistleblower fear for their life, such actions can drive a whistleblower to go the DOJ, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or SFO. The Guidance recognized that “Assistance and information from a whistleblower who knows of possible securities law violations can be among the most powerful weapons in the law enforcement arsenal.”

So what is the compliance professional to make of the Armstrong confession and how can it be used for a compliance program? A recent White Paper, entitled “Blowing the Whistle on Workplace Misconduct”, released by the Ethics Resource Center (ERC) detailed several findings that the ERC had determined through surveys, interviews and dialogues. One of the key findings in this White Paper was that that a culture of ethics within a company does matter. Such a culture should start with a strong commitment to ethics at the top, however it is also clear that this message must be reinforced throughout all levels of management, and that employees must understand that their company has the expectation that ethical standards are vital in the business’ day-to-day operations. If employees have this understanding, they are more likely to conduct themselves with integrity and report misconduct by others when they believe senior management has a genuine and long-term commitment to ethical behavior. Additionally, those employees who report misconduct are often motivated by the belief that their reports will be properly investigated. Conversely, most employees are less concerned with the particular outcome than in knowing that their report was seriously considered.

This is the ‘Fair Process Doctrine’. This Doctrine generally recognizes that there are fair procedures, not arbitrary ones, in a process involving rights. Considerable research has shown that people are more willing to accept negative, unfavorable, and non-preferred outcomes when they are arrived at by processes and procedures that are perceived as fair. Adhering to the Fair Process Doctrine in two areas of your Compliance Program is critical for you, as a compliance specialist or for your Compliance Department, to have credibility with the rest of the workforce.

In this area is that of internal company investigations, if your employees do not believe that the investigation is fair and impartial, then it is not fair and impartial. Furthermore, those involved must have confidence that any internal investigation is treated seriously and objectively. One of the key reasons that employees will go outside of a company’s internal hotline process is because they do not believe that the process will be fair.

This fairness has several components. One would be the use of outside counsel, rather than in-house counsel, to handle the investigation. Moreover, if company uses a regular firm, it may be that other outside counsel should be brought in, particularly if regular outside counsel has created or implemented key components which are being investigated. Further, if the company’s regular outside counsel has a large amount of business with the company, then that law firm may have a very vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Lastly, the investigation may require a level of specialization which in-house or regular outside counsel does not possess.

Phrasing it in another way, Mike Volkov, writing in his blog Corruption, Crime and Compliance, in an article entitled “How to Prevent Whistleblower Complaints”, had these suggestions: (1) Listen to the Whistleblower – In dealing with a whistleblower, it is critical to listen to the whistleblowers concerns. (2) Do Not Overpromise – At the conclusion of an initial meeting with a whistleblower, the company representative should inform the whistleblower that the company will review the allegations, conduct a “preliminary” investigation and report back to the whistleblower during, or at the conclusion of, any investigation. (3) Conduct a Fair Investigation – Depending on the nature of the allegations, a follow up inquiry should be conducted. The steps taken in the investigation should be documented.

I would add that after your investigation is complete, the Fair Process Doctrine demands that any discipline must not only be administered fairly but it must be administered uniformly across the company for the violation of any compliance policy. Simply put if you are going to fire employees in South America for lying on their expense reports, you have to fire them in North America for the same offense. It cannot matter that the North American employee is a friend of yours or worse yet a ‘high producer’. Failure to administer discipline uniformly will destroy any vestige of credibility that you may have developed.

Lance Armstrong has and will continue to provide the ethics and compliance practitioner with many lessons. You can use his treatment of whistleblowers as an opportunity to review how your company treats such persons who make notifications of unethical or illegal conduct. With the increasing number of financial incentives available to persons to blow the whistle to government agencies, such as the SEC under the Dodd-Frank Act, it also makes very good business sense to do so.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2013

Global Innovation for Your Compliance Program

One of the areas where the best practices for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance programs is evolving is in the area a less US centric approach and incorporating the diversity across the globe. Many companies are now realizing that there should not be a one size fits all compliance program and that there is a treasure trove of ideas and capabilities in the compliance arena around the globe. This is also true regarding compliance talent as there is much talent outside the US which can and should be utilized by a company in constructing and developing their compliance group. Once found this diversity and talent must be groomed and integrated into an overall compliance structure for success.

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review, entitled “10 Rules for Managing Global Innovation” by Keeley Wilson and Yves L. Doz, explored some of these challenges and provided insight into how to tackle this issue from the corporate innovation angle. I found their article a good road map for the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) to tap into and develop compliance talent. Wilson and Doz believe that many enablers of innovation occur naturally in a single location because “single location projects draw on large reservoirs of shared tacit knowledge and trust” but when these “projects span multiple locations, many of those natural benefits – often taken for granted -  are lost.” The authors formulated ten principals for successfully managing such global innovation projects across multiple locations which I believe translates into actions that a CCO or compliance group should institute when implementing or enhancing FCPA or Bribery Act compliance regimes.

1. Start Small. The authors believe that to be effective, dispersed teams have to develop a “new set of collaboration competencies and establish a collaboration mind-set.” This can be done by running one or more small projects before the entire system rollout. In this way, a consensus can be developed on working practices and protocols. Additionally systems bugs can be worked out.
2. Provide a Stable Organizational Context. Periods of major change in an organization present their own set of problems, so the authors advise, to the extent possible, a global innovation program should be initiated during times of relative stability.
3. Assign Oversight and Support Responsibility to a Senior Manager. In addition to the usual key of having strong senior executive support as a factor for success, the authors believe that given disparate locations and teams, a strong senior leader will be needed to arbitrate disputes and generally be the ultimate decision maker.
4. Use Rigorous Project Management and Seasoned Project Leaders. The authors believe that for global innovation to succeed there must be “a strong project management team to drive the project on a day-to-day basis and strong team leaders supported by robust tools and processes.” Often times, there are no off-the-shelf tools available so that they must be created to fulfill this role.
5. Appoint a Lead Site. It is important that there be one person at each implementation site who can focus on the bigger picture, the overall integration of the solution. The authors believe that a key to overcoming localized support for their own initiatives is to task one lead to liaise so that he/she can have an understanding of the bigger picture and work towards appropriate resource allocation.
6. Invest Time Defining the Innovation. When an implementation or innovation project is split over several time zones, the authors believe that there “is little latitude for iterative learning.” This means that the goals must be clearly defined and specified from the outset of the project. This definition process also helps but up trust and overall relationships between multiple locations.
7. Allocate Resources on the Basis of Capability, Not Availability. The authors believe that the staffing of a global innovation or implementation project “requires a great deal of attention in order to select and integrate the best possible knowledge and capabilities.” Companies usually staff projects with the resources on the ground that are available. The authors believe that this is a mistake and companies should rather “bring together distinctive and differentiated knowledge and capabilities from around the world to create unique innovations.”
8. Build Enough Knowledge Overlap for Collaboration. Without some overlap, the authors believe that “critical interdependencies between modules may not be apparent until the integration phase” when the cost is too great to change something. The authors cite to the Siemens example where one team member was tasked with liaising with other teams to ensure some overlap.
9. Limit the Number of Subcontractors and Partners. The authors believe that in such global innovation initiatives, the lead should be driven by the company’s own workforce and not led by professional consultants or other third parties. Clearly for employee buy-in it is important for there to be employee involvement, additionally the authors believe that the coordination of third parties may be more time consuming and at the end of the day, more trouble than it is worth.
10. Don’t Rely Solely on Technology for Communication. After the project is completed, it is critical that it be communicated effectively throughout the workforce. The authors believe that many managers “tend to underestimate the challenge of scaling communications globally.” Without robust communications, all of the good work to-date may not be fully disseminated throughout the company. So the human element is important and the authors advise as many communications as possible where there is an opportunity for employee interaction with the project sponsors publicizing the initiative.

The authors focus has been on global innovation initiatives. However I think these ten points are an excellent resource for the compliance practitioner to utilize when developing or rolling out a major compliance initiative. Even Mike Volkov recently saw the light and advocated the decentralization of the compliance function throughout an organization. This decentralization may well bring compliance initiatives from areas or regions not traditionally seen as a hotbed for such ideas. This article establishes a framework for the compliance practitioner to use for such compliance innovation.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2012

James Bond at 50 – A Compliance Conversation in English and American

Today is the 50^th anniversary of the premier of one of the great movie franchises of all-time: James Bond. 007 made his initial screen appearance in Dr. No. In connection with this august event, MGM released the full Bond oeuvre in a Blu-ray box set, which of course I had to purchase, supplanting the full Bond box set I had in regular DVD; which supplanted the individual movie titles I had collected over the years, which supplanted all the VCR tapes of Bond movies I had collected when that format was king. I also own the full set of Ian Fleming novels in hardback. So are you beginning to sense that I am not just a fan but a true aficionado? Well, I am.

NPR had a great series this week focusing on all things Bond in their Morning Edition show. The series looked at Bond’s gadgets, the sound of the Bond theme and movie soundtracks, Bond movie posters, the Bond franchise and which actor is the greatest Bond. While listening to these episodes I wondered if Bond had been American rather than English, would it have still worked. I came to the conclusion that no, the franchise works because Bond is English, not in spite of that fact.

I pondered that question as I have been reading about the various banking and financial scandals over the summer, largely involving British banks. One of the more interesting side notes has been the press commentary on the British banks and the ongoing national debate it seems to have sparked in Britain about how and why the entire industry is so corrupt and how it lost its collective moral compass. The focus is on fixing the system, not softening the laws, which, it appears, most of the major banks violated in either the Libor or anti-money laundering (AML) enforcement actions.

Contrast that approach with that of the US Chamber of Commerce or any of the various commentators who say that compliance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is simply too difficult and all Congress needs to do is soften the law with one or more of the following: a compliance defense, doing away with successor liability, adding a willfulness requirement, changing the definition of who is a government official or limiting a corporate parent’s liability for the acts of its subsidiaries and if one or all of the above is enacted, companies will be able to do business in compliance with the law.

Maybe it’s just the difference in the two cultures; in the UK, they are trying figure out how and why compliance failures occurred and change the compliance culture so they can obey the law. In the US, businesses want to change the law so the conduct companies engage in will no longer violate the law.

But what should you do if you and your company are committed to following the FCPA as it currently exists? If you are in or near Houston, TX, next Wednesday morning and you are interested in hearing the most up to date information on what you can do to comply with the FCPA; I would like to suggest that you come to the Kreller sponsored FCPA event where Mike Volkov, Dan Chapman and myself will be speaking on the lessons learned from the most recent enforcement actions of 2012. We will collectively review the Morgan Stanley declination and how a robust compliance program receives credit in a FCPA enforcement action; Smith and Nephew’s use of distributors, who were confirmed as the same as agents and other representatives in a FCPA enforcement action; BizJet will help us to show just exactly what is extraordinary cooperation in the context of a FCPA enforcement action; Biomet, a prime example of the role of internal audit for detection and prevention of a FCPA compliance program; and finally, the recent Tyco enforcement action for the continued evolution of FCPA compliance programs through enhanced compliance obligations. We will also review some of the key allegations in the Wal-Mart matter and use it to explore certain lessons for your compliance program.

I hope you can attend as Mike and Dan are two of the most knowledgeable FCPA practitioners I know of and to have them both on the same panel is a treat that I would pay money to see. But even better than paying to see two of the best, the event is complimentary, breakfast will be served and CLE is available. It doesn’t get much better than that so I hope that you can join us on Wednesday morning at the Houstonian.

For registration and details, click here. For a You Tube video of the iconic James Bond theme, click here.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2012

Upcoming Events

I am excited to announce that I will participate in three upcoming event, with three of the most knowledgeable people I know in the FCPA space. Both events are sponsored by Kreller and they are both free.

Chicago-Sept. 11

On Tuesday, September 11 I will be at the University Club in Chicago with Stephen Martin, Managing Director of renowned Baker & McKenzie Compliance Consulting. Our topics will be:

• Overviews of recent government enforcements
• Recent Key FCPA & Anti-Corruption cases: what went wrong, red flags, lessons learned
• Practical advice on establishing and maintaining a comprehensive compliance program

For more information and registration, click here.

San Diego-Sept 25

One Tuesday, September 25, I will be at the in San Diego Marriott Del Mar with Mike Volkov, partner in the firm of LeClair Ryan. Our topic will be Risk-Weighted Due Diligence.

For more information and registration, click here.

Houston-Oct. 10

On Wednesday, October 10, I will be joined again by Mike Volkov and Dan Chapman, the Chief Compliance Officer at Parker Drilling for a discussion of Conducting proper Due Diligence an art – not a science.

For more information and registration, click here.

I hope that you can join us for one of these events. I promise you it will be worth your while.

Opening Day is Here – Hope and Melancholy for the Astros and Avon

It is finally here, Opening Day for the Houston Astros. Although Major League Baseball (MLB) opened its 2012 season last week in Japan, I will have to go with my hometown team’s home opener as my official day for the new season. So will the Astros improve on their 106-loss season from 2011? We can certainly hope so. On a somewhat melancholy note, it is the Astros final season in the National League (NL) as new owner Jim Crane threw away our 50 year tradition by agreeing to move the Astros to the American League (AL) West next year. Thanks Jim. But hey, we can still lose games to Albert Pujols, when we are up in the 9^th by two runs as he left the St. Louis Cardinals for the mega-zillions of Anaheim’s Angels, when he hits yet another 3 run homer with a 0-2 count.

This week in the compliance world we saw a different type of opening or perhaps the beginning of the end, depending on your perspective, involving Avon. The news this week was not specifically focused on its ongoing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) travails but the takeover bid by a much smaller rival, Coty, Inc. As reported in the April 3, edition of both the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), “Scarred Avon is Takeover Target”, and the New York Times (NYT), “Avon Rebuffs Coty, but Its Weakness Shows”, the German-based cosmetics concern, which is “less than half Avon’s size”, publicly announced a $10 billion takeover bid for Avon.

FCPA Costs for Avon

The FCPA travails of Avon have been well reported. In October 2008, Avon publicly announced it was conducting an investigation for possible FCPA violations related to its China operations. This investigation expanded into a world-wide internal investigation, which at this time is still ongoing with no indication of when an enforcement action, if any, will be concluded. Recently the FCPA Professor, in a post entitled “Business Effects”, reported that the “professional fees and expenses incurred by Avon in connection with its internal FCPA review have approached $250 million – and there hasn’t even yet been an enforcement action.  Over the past three years and doing the math, Avon has spent approximately $225,000 per day on its FCPA inquiry.” As reported by the FCPA Blog, in a post entitled “Suit Alleges Avon Execs Knew About China Bribes”, a recent article by Chris Matthews of the WSJ “reported yesterday that an amended shareholder lawsuit accuses Avon Products of paying a big severance to a former head of internal audit in 2006 to buy his silence about bribes in China.”

In addition to this civil shareholder lawsuit, the FCPA Blog noted that “Joe Palazzolo and Emily Glazer at the Wall Street Journal said in February that the DOJ [Department of Justice] had gone to a grand jury with evidence of FCPA violations against U.S. executives at Avon Products. The WSJ story, based on at least three unnamed sources, said the focus of the grand jury was a 2005 internal audit report by the company that concluded Avon employees in China may have been bribing officials.”

In addition to its FCPA issues, Avon has suffered financial setbacks as well since the original FCPA disclosure. The NYT reported that Avon’s “net income has declined every year since 2008.” It has lost significant stock value during this FCPA investigation and has had its credit downgraded. The WSJ article reported that “Prior to Coty’s offer, Avon’s stock had lost about 30% of its value over the past year, and Standard & Poor’s Corp. cut its credit rating on Avon last month to triple-B, two steps above junk, warning it could fall further as the search for a CEO keeps longer-term planning on hold.” This final reference is to Avon’s move to replace it chief executive Andrea Jung, as reported in the NYT article, “has been criticized by analysts recently.”

Successor Liability Issues under the FCPA

As noted by reporter Sam Rubenfeld, in a WSJ article entitled “Buying Avon Could Bring Coty A Hefty Bribery Risk”, the purchasing entity Coty “could be buying a massive foreign bribery liability if a deal to purchase Avon Products Inc. were to close, experts said.” He wrote that “Successor liability in the FCPA context, known by the shorthand of “buying an FCPA violation,” was the subject of six enforcement actions in 2011.” He went on to quote Rita Glavin, a partner at Seward & Kissel LLP who formerly served as head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, who said “You buy a company, you buy their problems.”

So what is Coty up to here? I think that they may have come upon an interesting new wrinkle for companies in a FCPA investigation. Not only do companies face what Avon has gone through in terms of the business effects of a huge cost for an internal investigation, drop in stock value and drop in credit rating but now such an all-encompassing investigation could put a company in play for a takeover – hostile or friendly. While the doctrine of successor liability is alive and well, there are potential protections for any purchaser. First and foremost is the fact that it is Avon which has borne these tremendous costs for the investigation. I have no doubt that as a part of the investigation Avon has identified compliance policies and procedures which should be (ahem) enhanced to prevent any violations of the FCPA going forward. Once again it is Avon which is doing this work and not any acquiring company. In addition to these costs which the acquiring company does not have to incur, the value of Avon is well down, although just how much due to the FCPA investigation may not be quantified at this point, it does not change the fact that its value is significantly lower. Hence any purchase price will be at a reduced amount perhaps even a greatly reduced amount.

Coty Options on Successor Liability Issue

As to the issue of successor liability, I think that Coty can look to different DOJ pronouncements for some comfort. The first is Opinion Release 08-02 (the “Halliburton Opinion Release”) in which the DOJ blessed a go-forward plan proposed by Halliburton, to accomplish due diligence in a post-acquisition mode. The second is found in the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA), in Attachment D, “Enhanced Compliance Obligations.” With regard to the acquisition context, it agreed to:

7. J&J will ensure that new business entities are only acquired after thorough FCPA and anticorruption due diligence by legal, accounting, and compliance personnel. Where such anticorruption due diligence is not practicable prior to acquisition of a new business for reasons beyond J&J’s control, or due to any applicable law, rule, or regulation, J&J will conduct FCPA and anticorruption due diligence subsequent to the acquisition and report to the Department any corrupt payments, falsified books and records, or inadequate internal controls as required by … the Deferred Prosecution Agreement.

8. J&J will ensure that J&J’s policies and procedures regarding the anticorruption laws and regulations apply as quickly as is practicable, but in any event no less than one year post-closing, to newly-acquired businesses, and will promptly: For those operating companies that are determined not to pose corruption risk, J&J will conduct periodic FCPA Audits, or will incorporate FCPA components into financial audits.

a. Train directors, officers, employees, agents, consultants, representatives, distributors, joint venture partners, and relevant employees thereof, who present corruption risk to J&J, on the anticorruption laws and regulations and J&J’s related policies and procedures; and

b. Conduct an FCPA-specific audit of all newly-acquired businesses within 18 months of acquisition.

Mike Volkov, writing in his blog, Corruption, Crime and Compliance, in a post entitled “Buying an FCPA Violation: Successor Liability is Alive and Well”, provided the following advice for companies to steer clear of successor liability under the FCPA in an acquisition context:

1.  A pre-closing risk assessment needs to be updated for post-closing risks.

2.  Compliance triage teams need to be assembled and tasks prioritized.  If more resources are needed, this needs to be arranged at or near the time of closing.  Compliance triage teams must have authority and resources to bring an acquired company into the fold.

3.  Compliance triage teams need to work post-acquisition to ensure proper controls and compliance programs are adequately implemented in those high-risk areas and businesses.

4.  Compliance training of new employees and agents has to be a high priority.  It is surprising how many companies fail to even conduct basic training, updating of codes of conduct and basic steps to integrate new employees and agents.

From Opinion Release 08-02, the J&J DPA and Mike Volkov’s thoughts, I believe that Coty could well put together a plan to deal with Avon’s FCPA issues and the DOJ based upon precedent, a strong commitment towards compliance going forward and Coty’s extraordinary cooperation with the DOJ to make all of this work. Although the NYT and WSJ both reported that Avon’s management rejected the Coty offer, if Coty can convince enough Avon shareholders to accept the offer the Avon shareholders might be inclined to consider such an offer at this point.

But it’s Opening Day and my bride and I are off to Minute Maid Park to watch the hometown heroes play the Colorado Rockies tonight. Is the start of this 2012 a harbinger of good things to come for the Astros? Only time will tell. As for Avon, its FCPA travails may have helped to put it in play and Coty may have figured out how to use one company’s FCPA issues as a springboard to a major acquisition. Maybe the new normal for companies in large FCPA investigations/enforcement actions is that they find themselves as take-over candidates. Only time will tell.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2012

Regulation v. Enforcement of the FCPA – A Renewed Call for Release of Declinations

In his blog post of February 16, 2012, entitled “The Justice Department’s Slippery Slope — Enforcement Versus Regulation”, Mike Volkov takes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to task for “hubris and insensitivity to the business community” in their enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). I believe that he correctly notes that companies do want to comply with the FCPA but want more guidance so that they do not have to “read the tea leaves” on what the DOJ may believe is conduct violative of the FCPA.

However, I do not believe the “hubris or insensitivity” of the DOJ is the genesis of this perceived problem. Rather, I would argue that it is the nature of system in place. I need to credit my colleague Doug Jacobson for this next insight. For those of you who do not know him, Doug is a well-experienced international trade lawyer, who blogs at International Trade Law News. Doug’s observation was that the FCPA is similar to a regulatory system which, in this case, is being administered by DOJ lawyers. He contrasted this with his international trade law practice, in which he frequently interfaces with regulators from the Departments of Commerce and Treasury on issues related to trade control. Of course if a legal violation occurs, trade control issues can and do go to the DOJ for enforcement, but as counsel representing companies, he can interact with regulators to develop best practices programs, policies and procedures.

In the FCPA arena, there are no regulators to call upon. If one has a query, one is required to ask the group that enforces the FCPA. Of course the DOJ does have its Opinion Release procedure, which has been sometimes used and is of value to those in the compliance field. In addition to Opinion Releases, the only other DOJ comments on best practices are those which are to be found in Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPA) and Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPA). We are also now beginning to see a body of case law develop, particularly on the definition of who is a foreign governmental official.

In his post, Volkov cites back to a case from the 1970s for some guidance. He wrote that in the aftermath of the breakup of AT&T, District Court Judge Harold H. Greene, who presided over the implementation of the antitrust decree in the case, and Justice Department lawyers played a critical role in setting telecommunications policy. However, he wrote that “The Bell Operating companies argued that they needed to be regulated by the FCC, not the Justice Department and a federal judge. Moreover, the industry accused the judge, and the Justice Department of slowing the telecommunications industry, and eventually the judge and the Justice Department were removed from the issue when Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996.”

In his dénouement, Volkov urges the DOJ to “respond to the business community, adopt some prosecutorial policies and make them public, so that companies can implement meaningful and effective compliance programs without fear of unfair prosecutions.” However, as lawyers are charged with enforcement, not regulation, I would urge another tack. I have previously argued that another viable source of information is found in DOJ declinations to prosecute companies which self-report potential FCPA violations. A decision to prosecute, or not to prosecute, is precisely what prosecutors do. In the declination process, the DOJ is handling a much broader and more significant amount of information than is found in an Opinion Release. A self-disclosing company has investigated or will investigate a matter, most likely with the aid of specialized outside FCPA investigative counsel. The DOJ has the opportunity to review the investigation and suggest further or other lines of inquiry. Company personnel are made available for DOJ interviews, if appropriate. In short one would have actual facts and detailed oversight by DOJ, which in the case of a declination to prosecute, would provide substantive guidance on why it did not believe a FCPA violation had occurred in the face of a company’s good faith belief that it had violated the FCPA.

Declinations to prosecute are a part of the enforcement process. By releasing declinations to prosecute, the DOJ can maintain its role in enforcement and not become the regulators of the FCPA. I believe that release of this information, redacted in such a manner as to protect the names of the parties involved, would be some of the highest value of compliance information that a practitioner could use to determine what the best practices are and what actions might well constitute a FCPA violation in the eyes of the DOJ. Further, for those who wish to simply water down the statute, in the name of US competitiveness, such information should put to rest the arguments that companies are being unfairly prosecuted for the actions of ‘rogue’ employees.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2012

Ten Compliance Issues from 2011

I have seen several lists of the Top Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) issues of 2011. Sam Rubenfeld and Chris Matthews at the Wall Street Journal’s Corruption Currents have been interviewing several of the top legal practitioners on their thoughts. The ever-present Mike Volkov has weighed in with his list and his “Person of the Year”, the Chief Compliance Officer. Howard Sklar and I even got into the video act by discussing our most significant issues in “This Week in FCPA”. So as part of the compliance commentariati, I submit, for your consideration, my Top Ten anti-corruption and anti-bribery issues over the past 12 months.

1.         Amendments to the FCPA? The Senate ended 2010 with hearings focusing on why there were not more individual prosecutions under the FCPA. In June, the House Judiciary Committee focused on ways to ease up on or gut the anti-corruption provisions of the FCPA in the name of US “competitiveness” overseas. Then in a stunning turnaround, the House Judiciary Chair asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) representative if the DOJ would support a ban on all commercial bribery, not just a ban on bribing foreign governmental officials. Then again he did say was drafting amendments to the FCPA which we haven’t heard about since the great theater in June.

2.         UK Bribery Act goes live. For many in the anglophile world, the event of the year was the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton. However, for us in the anti-corruption and anti-bribery world, it was effective date of the UK Bribery Act, July 1. While some had opined that the Bribery Act was “the FCPA on steroids” the initial prosecution under the Bribery Act was for a £500 bribe paid to a UK court clerk. Perhaps it just takes awhile for UK steroids to kick in.

 3.         Crystal Ball Reading. One does not have to read a crystal ball or tea leaves to know what should constitute a best practices compliance program. The DOJ continues to respond to calls for information by practitioners and the commentarati by providing solid information through which you can implement or enhance your compliance program. In addition to continuing to list the 12 points in a minimum best practices compliance program in each Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA)/Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA) released; the DOJ has provided ‘enhanced compliance obligations’ in DPAs which provide information on evolving standards. Back in January, the DOJ provided information on areas of risk which should be assessed to inform your compliance program.

4.         Chief Compliance Officer Upgrade. With the effective changes in the federal sentencing guidelines from November, 2010 and the DOJ comments this year, it has become clear that companies must give a more prominent role to the Chief Compliance Officer and separate that function from that of the General Counsel.

5.         Investigating Private Equity. Both the DOJ and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced that they would be looking at private equity, in conjunction with anti-bribery and anti-corruption. Well known for cost reductions through cutting corporate budgets, they may become a prime and profitable set of targets for enforcement agencies.  Additionally, their unique structure of separately operating portfolio companies may greatly increase ownerships control and person risks. If you are in private equity and are reading this and have no clue what I am talking about, get on the phone to one of Howard Sklar’s recommended FCPA counsel ASAP.

6.         It Just Can’t Get any Weirder. Just when you think you have seen it all in the FCPA world, News Corp., is accused of bribing Scotland Yard to further its newspaper business and it is also alleged that a lawyer representing a US company in Mexican litigation attempts to bribe a court official to obtain a favorable ruling. Then, of course there is Olympus, which not only fires its whistle-blowing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for questioning Red Flag payments to agents, which reveals that it has been engaged in a decade long corporate fraud. But here’s the topper in my book, someone posted a comment to my blog post about Tyson’s Foods paying bribes to the wives of Mexican food inspectors to obtain ‘favorable treatment’. She said the following “The meat being TIF-certified for export was not meat distributed to U.S. The meat was being exported to countries such as Japan and other Asian destinations.” I am sure that is of great comfort to the folks in “Japan and other Asian destinations”. Memo to Tyson: Call Gini Dietrich at Spin Sucks for some serious PR help.

7.         Plaintiff’s Bar gets that old time (FCPA) religion. The FCPA was used, in a somewhat novel manner, in three civil actions which may portend an entire new wave of private and civil FCPA litigations. In SciClone a shareholder derivative action was filed after the announcement of a FCPA investigation. During the pendency of a FCPA investigation, this civil action was settled with the company agreeing to implement a best practices compliance program. In Alba v. Alcoa a company whose employees were allegedly paid bribes (Alba) sued the alleged bribe-payor (Alcoa) for damages in driving up the costs for products sold because of the corrupt acts of Alcoa. In ICE, the Costa Rican telecom company sought to use the victim restitution component to allow it to participate in the DOJ’s FCPA settlement with Alcatel-Lucent.

8.         Rule of Law. Several DOJ prosecutions of individuals under the FCPA have brought a plethora of legal rulings to flesh out legal standards under the FCPA. In the spring, there were district court rulings on whether a state owned enterprise is covered by the FCPA and an analysis of what constitutes a state owned enterprise. These cases will probably be appealed so we may have the first US court of appeals’ interpretation of the FCPA in quite some time.

9.         Wide World of Enforcement. More countries are implementing new anti-corruption laws and more resources are being dedicated to enforcement. The US has had significant cooperation with the UK SFO and Financial Services Association (FSA) and this will increase with the go live date of the Bribery Act. However, the BRIC countries have passed, or are considering, significant anti-corruption laws. The US is starting to coordinate and share more information with these countries — China being the most significant.  For global companies, this increase will portend greater numbers of fines and penalties and will complicate international settlement efforts.

10.       Year of the FCPA Trial. This was the year that the DOJ brought out the big trial guns for three very high profile FCPA trials: the Gun Sting cases; Lindsey Manufacturing; and Haitian Telecom. The resolution results have been mixed, with convictions in Lindsey and Haitian Telecom; mistrial in the first of four Gun Sting trials and some dismissals in the second Gun Sting trial. However, the government has taken a black eye for some procedural missteps, particularly the judge throwing out the entire guilty verdict for prosecutorial misconduct in the Lindsey Mfg. case.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2012

The Saga of MF Global – Don’t Shoot the Messenger, Fire the Chief Compliance Officer

In a post last week on his site, Corruption, Crime and Compliance, Mike Volkov named the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) his “Person of the Year”. He did so because “There is no other position in a company which has taken on more significance.” This significance was foretold, in part, by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) minimum best practices compliance program, where they have listed in each Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) and Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA) released beginning in 2010 and continuing into 2011,  the following:

“Senior Management Oversight and Reporting. A Company should assign responsibility to one or more senior corporate executives of the Company for the implementation and oversight of the Company’s anti-corruption policies, standards, and procedures. Such corporate official(s) shall have direct reporting obligations to the Company’s Legal Counsel or Legal Director as well as the Company’s independent monitoring bodies, including internal audit, the Board of Directors, or any appropriate committee of the Board of Directors, and shall have an adequate level of autonomy from management as well as sufficient resources and authority to maintain such autonomy.”

In November 2010, the US Sentencing Guidelines were also amended to make the role of the CCO more robust and allow direct reporting to a Board of Directors or subcommittee of the Board. The amendment read “the individual…with operational responsibility for the compliance and ethics program…have direct reporting obligations to the governing authority or any appropriate subgroup… (e.g. an audit committee or the board of directors)”. If a company has the CCO reporting to the General Counsel (GC) who then reports to the Board? Such structure may not qualify as an effective compliance and ethics program under the amended Sentencing Guidelines.

These two bits of guidance came to mind when reading about MF Global over the past few weeks, regarding its Chief Risk Officer, the financial services equivalent of a CCO. As reported on December 15, in a New York Times (NYT) article entitled “MF Global’s Risk Officer Said to Lack Authority” Ben Protess and Azam Ahmed reported that the company replaced its Chief Risk Officer, Michael Roseman, earlier in 2011, after he “repeatedly clashed with Mr. Corzine [the CEO] over the firm’s purchase of European sovereign debt.” He was given a large severance package and left the company. When he left, there was no public reason given. His replacement was brought into the position with reduced authority.

Writing in the December 16, edition of the NYT’s DealB%K, in an article entitled “Another View: MF Global’s Corporate Governance Lesson” Michael Peregrine stated that “compliance officer is the equivalent of a “protected class” for governance purposes, and the sooner leadership gets that, the better.” Particularly in the post Sarbanes-Oxley world, a company’s CCO is a “linchpin in organizational efforts to comply with applicable law.” When a company fires (or asks him to resign), it is a significance decision for all involved in corporate governance and should not be solely done at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) alone.

Both the DOJ minimum best practices and the amendment to the US Sentencing Guidelines, giving the CCO direct access to a company’s Board of Directors, would seem to provide the profile that would mandate that a Board wants to know the reason why a CCO (or Chief Risk Officer) would suddenly resign, particularly after he “repeated clashed” with a CEO over compliance issues. The universal corporate blanket “resigned to pursue other opportunities” is a white-wash that a Board should look beyond, if indeed that reason was given to the MF Board. The bottom line is that when a CCO leaves, particularly if it was due to a clash with the CEO, the Board had better take a close look into the reasons as it may be that the CEO wants to take risks which could put the company at grave risk.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2011