Here are some interesting compliance, risk and ethics stories from the past week:
Robert Kennedy, the Travel Act and the FCPA by Thomas Fox in Tfoxlaw’s Blog
Robert Kennedy’s contribution is that while Attorney General, he urged Congress to enact the Travel Act in 1961 which was passed as part of the same series of bills as the Wire Act and was a part of his program to combat organized crime and racketeering. The Travel Act is aimed at prohibiting interstate travel or use of an interstate facility in aid of a racketeering or an unlawful business enterprise.
New Cooperation Tools, Units An Enforcement Game Changer by Melissa Klein Aguilar for Compliance Week
Forging ahead with the revamp of its Enforcement Division, the Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled new tools to incentivize individuals and companies to cooperate with the enforcement staff during investigations, including deferred- and non-prosecution agreements and a so-called Seaboard Memo for individuals. For the first time, the SEC set out in a new policy statement how it will evaluate whether, how much, and in what manner to credit cooperation by individuals, to serve as an incentive for people to report violations and cooperate fully and promptly in enforcement cases.
Employee Wrongdoing: Drawing the Line by Chris MacDonald on The Business Ethics Blog
Should companies ever tolerate unethical behaviour in the workplace? Never? What about really small stuff? What about really important employees? How strictly should they monitor employees? Won’t intense scrutiny hurt morale?
Earning Cooperation Credit in an FCPA Case by Thomas Gorman for SEC Actions
For corporations, the SEC, like the Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies, has long held out the prospect of credit in the charging process in exchange for cooperation. While there is no talismanic test which will guarantee a company that it can secure enough credit to avoid being charged, the SEC’s Seaboard Release, discussed here, contains an example of a company that did in fact earn sufficient credits and discusses general principles regarding cooperation.
Nevada and New Hampshire Data Security and Privacy Laws Take Effect from the Privacy & Information Security Law Blog by Hunton & Williams LLP
On January 1, 2010, two important state data security and privacy laws took effect in Nevada and New Hampshire. The laws create new obligations for most companies that do business in Nevada and for health care providers and business associates in New Hampshire.