Ding Dong, FCPA Calling

Avon, the beauty products seller, announced that is voluntarily conducting an investigation of its China Operations, focusing on compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. “The Company, under the oversight of the Audit Committee, commenced in June 2008 an internal investigation after it received an allegation that certain travel, entertainment and other expenses may have … Read more »

James H. Fries, Jr. on The Objectives and Conduct of Bank Secrecy Act Enforcement

James H. Fries, Jr., the Director of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the U.S. Department of Treasury spoke about The Objectives and Conduct of Bank Secrecy Act Enforcement at the ABA/ABA Money Laundering Enforcement Conference in Washington D.C. on October 20, 2008. “An essential principle of FinCEN’s enforcement program is to uphold the public policy … Read more »

New Massachusetts Regulations to Mandate Comprehensive Information Security Requirements

Goodwin Procter LLP published a summary of the New Massachusetts Regulations to Mandate Comprehensive Information Security Requirements. The regulations have broad coverage, applying to all entities that own, license, store or maintain personal information about residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, regardless of whether or not the entity has operations in the Commonwealth. Federally regulated … Read more »

Text of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

You can find the complet text of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on the Department of Justice’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act site. § 78dd-2. Prohibited foreign trade practices by domestic concerns (a) Prohibition It shall be unlawful for any domestic concern, other than an issuer which is subject to section 78dd-1 of this title, or … Read more »

Who is a Foreign Official under the FCPA?

The FCPA defines “foreign official” as: [A]ny officer or employee of a foreign government or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, or a public international organization, or any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any such government or department, agency, or instrumentality, or for or on behalf of any such … Read more »

Protecting Individual Privacy in the Struggle Against Terrorists

The National Research Council has published a new report finding that all U.S. agencies with counterterrorism programs that collect personal data should be required to evaluate the programs’ effectiveness, lawfulness, and impacts on privacy. In its press release, they summarize that “Collecting and examining data to try to identify terrorists inevitably involves privacy violations, since … Read more »