• Herbalife Charged Criminally for Bribery

    This morning Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) was charged criminally for paying bribes to Chinese officials. The action is related to criminal liability under FCPA (U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). The company disclosed in an SEC filing today: Herbalife violated the books […]

  • CFO Magazine: Creating a Culture of Compliance

    I was recently quoted in CFO Magazine for an article on creating an ethical culture within companies. Below are a few excerpts, including my comments. In December, the federal government cited a “lax corporate control environment” at Alcatel, which extended […]

  • Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Rule Adopted by SEC Discourages Internal Reporting

    The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted on July 21, 2010, established a whistleblower incentive program requiring the Securities and Exchange commission to provide monetary awards to whistleblowers who come forward with information about the violation of […]

  • FCPA Books and Records Violations: The Government Will Always Win.

    The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is aimed at preventing bribery of foreign officials. One key part of the FCPA is the books and records provision, which includes the following from 15 U.S.C. § 78m: (2) Every issuer which has […]

  • Learn From the Costly FCPA Mistakes of Others

    A recent Compliance Week article, An Expensive Lesson on FCPA Compliance [subscription required], provides some valuable insights on the direction that our government is taking with enforcement. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations are a huge focus of the feds right […]