FinCEN updated the SDN list with companies and individuals associated with the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe: Treasury Designates Mugabe Regime Cronies. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated four Mugabe regime cronies and a number of entities owned or controlled by two of them. The financial and logistical … Read more »
Bribery’s Broken Windows
Alexandra Wrage of TRACE international wrote Bribery’s Broken Windows (.pdf) for the Q1 edition of Ethisphere. She tackles the credibility issue with allowing facilitating payments to low level officials, but saying “no” to senior ranking official. She advocates that the companies should prohibit payments at all levels. She looks to the New York subway system’s … Read more »
Massachusetts State Ethics Commission’s Online Training Program
The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission has published an Online Training Program for Chapter 268A. The interactive questions and answers are directed at state employees. Read more »
Norfolk Developer Accused Of Ethics Breach
Michele Morgan Bolton of the Boston Globe reports that Jack Scott, president of Pine Creek Development Corp., was accused last week of violating state law by allegedly offering a free week at his Pennsylvania cabin to the chairman of the town’s Conservation Commission while he had an application before the board: Developer Accused of Ethics … Read more »
Larger Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Fines Ahead
Lynn Marek of the National Law Journal reports: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission expects in the next two to six months to slap larger penalties than in the past on a number of companies that have allegedly violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, reminding lawyers in the field that the regulator is taking a … Read more »
TRACE and FCPA Opinion Procedure Release 08-03
The Summer 2008 newsletter from TRACE International provides some more background on FCPA Opinion Procedure Release 08-03. TRACE points out that this release was the first time that the DOJ has approved the payment of a specific dollar amount to government officials. Read more »
The Costs of Corruption
The damage and inefficiency caused by corruption, in either financial or social terms, should not be underestimated. The World Bank has estimated that more that US$ 1 Trillion is paid in bribes annually. See World Bank, “The Costs of Corruption” (8 April 2004). An Ernst & Young survey of executives indicated that almost half of … Read more »
UK’s Law Commission on Reforming Bribery
The United Kingdom’s Law Commission has published its recommendations in a new report on reforming the bribery laws in the United Kingdom. The LC Report 313 on reforming bribery (.pdf) states: Bribery has been contrary to the law at least since Magna Carta declared, “We will sell to no man…either justice or right”. Most people … Read more »
Top Ten Ways to Prevent Employee Theft
From Tracy Coenen of the Fraud Files Blog, Top Ten Ways to Prevent Employee Theft: 1. Education . If employees are aware of fraud and how it happens, they will be your best on-the-job sleuths. 2. Surprise Audits . . . 3. Hotlines . A mechanism for anonymous reporting of fraud encourages employees to look … Read more »
Fraud Detected More Often At Bankrupt Companies
Bankrupt companies are three times more likely to have been cited for fraud by U.S. regulators, according to a study released on Monday from Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. The study also showed that fraud incidents were much more likely to land a company in bankruptcy court. Sheila Smith, head of reorganization services at Deloitte … Read more »