On this episode of White Collar Briefly, Perkins Coie's White Collar & Investigations practice attorney Markus Funk interviews special guest (and colleague) retired Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Bender. 

Dave Eggers and Perkins Coie's Firmwide White Collar & Investigations Chair (and former Chicago federal prosecutor) Markus Funk have a candid and probing conversation about today's calls for fundamental criminal justice reform.

On June 22, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Liu v. SEC that in an SEC civil proceeding a disgorgement award that does not exceed a wrongdoer's profit and is awarded for victims is equitable relief permissible under the applicable statute.

The U.S. Department of Justice has updated its guidance on corporate compliance programs.

In 2008, Congress passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which awarded approximately $700 billion in stimulus funds to companies reeling from one of the greatest financial crises to strike the U.S. 

A new $2 million SBA safe harbor for PPP loans appears to create a wide umbrella that substantially reduces the risk that adverse consequences will rain down and soak companies with loans in this category.

As this blog has previously noted, the Coronavirus pandemic, like other crises before it, is likely to increase prosecutions for fraud, particularly under the Payment Protection Program ("PPP") created by the federal government's Coronavirus stimulus packages.

Companies seeking PPP loans must concurrently navigate the potential minefield of public scrutiny and government enforcement, requiring a heightened level of planning and procedures. 

When administrators of colleges and universities first learn of misconduct, abuse, or neglect allegations within their communities—especially those involving wrongdoing committed by beloved mentors or authority figures within the institution—it is critical that the institution react swiftly and thoughtfully by conducting appropriately-scaled, rigorous, and credible investigations.

Authored by T. Markus Funk, Hon. Virginia M. Kendall of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

In this time of supreme uncertainty, companies have many urgent concerns. 

Attorneys counseling companies on white collar matters are likely to have discovered crimes such as theft, bribery, and embezzlement committed by current and former employees, as well as by competitors. 

The U.S. Court of the Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that criminal defendants who gain unlawful proceeds from certain offenses must pay back those proceeds—even when they no longer possess them.