White Collar Briefly
White Collar Briefly
Drawing from breaking news, ever changing government priorities, and significant judicial decisions, this blog from Perkins Coie’s White Collar and Investigations group highlights key considerations and offers practical insights aimed to guide corporate stakeholders and counselors through an evolving regulatory environment.
SEC Action To Protect Whistleblowers May Impact Internal Investigations
On April 1, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced its first enforcement action against a company for using improperly restrictive language in confidentiality agreements allegedly aimed at stifling potential whistleblowers.
Call to Arms from White House and DOJ on Spyware Sanctions
Last week, DOJ's Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell took to the Justice Department's blog to rally support behind recent White House proposals that would bolster law enforcement tools
SEC Awards First Whistleblower Payout to Former Company Officer
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this week that it has awarded its first whistleblower payout to a former company officer.
Government Investigations in the Wake of Data Breaches
Recent high profile cyberattacks and data breaches like those suffered by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Target Corporation have prompted many companies to begin reevaluating their own vulnerabilities.
Holder Takes “First Step” in Comprehensive Review of Federal Asset Forfeiture Program
Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder took an important first step towards reforming the DOJ's federal Asset Forfeiture Program.
DOJ's "Top 10" for Effective FCPA Compliance Programs
At the American Conference Institute's 9th Annual Houston Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Boot Camp, January 27-28, 2015, Deputy Criminal Chief Jason Varnado, from the Major Fraud Section of the United States Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Texas, offered the audience of compliance and audit professionals insight into what the Department of Justice (DOJ) expects to see in corpo
Major Changes in Government Contractor Compliance
The newly released Federal Acquisition Regulation provisions — arising out of President Obama's 2012 Executive Order 13627 — mandate that all federal contractors take certain actions related to combating human trafficking and slavery in their supply chains.
General Counsel's Secret Recordings Ruled Admissible Against CEO
Last week, a judge in the U.S. District Court in Camden, New Jersey ruled that prosecutors can use secretly recorded conversations between Joseph Sigelman, the former chief executive officer of PetroTiger, and the company's former general counsel, Gregory Weisman, in Sigelman's upcoming trial.
UK Continues to Ramp Up Enforcement Under Bribery Act
While the primary domestic anti-bribery statute, the FCPA, has been on the books for nearly four decades, the UK's principal anti-bribery law, the UK Bribery Act, is merely an infant, having become effective in July 2011.
Compliance Officer Assessed $1 Million Penalty for Program Failures
In a rare move targeting an in-house compliance officer, the former Chief Compliance Officer of MoneyGram International Inc. has been assessed a $1 million civil penalty by the U.S.
Supreme Court Remains Silent on Crime-Fraud Exception
In its recent declination to review the Third Circuit's decision in In Re: Grand Jury Subpoena, a case involving the contours of the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege, the U.S.
Big Paydays for Whistleblowers? Not so fast...
With over 10,000 whistleblower tips since 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") recently unveiled its most detailed portrait yet of the whistleblowers who have received awards under the SEC incentive program created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Expanded warrants to let DOJ remotely search and seize electronically stored information saved anywhere?
The U.S. Judicial Conference recently received public comments on proposed amendments to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 (the "Rule"), which would enlarge DOJ's ability to remotely access, search, and seize electronically stored information ("ESI").
SEC's Home "Court" Advantage Being Challenged
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made clear that it intends on filing more enforcement actions in administrative proceedings, which are heard by its own Administrative Law Judges (ALJs).
Ninth Circuit Limits Ability of Foreign Nationals to Challenge FCPA Charges from Abroad
As made clear in the DOJ and SEC's joint Resource Guide to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), U.S.