Legal News

The Department of Justice and eleven state Attorneys General filed an antitrust case against Google in the United States Court for the District of Columbia. DOJ’s filing was hurried at the behest of the Attorney General Bill Barr, and reflects DOJ’s growing focus on high-tech businesses and monopolization conduct. DOJ’s case joins a long list of high-profile monopolization cases, including Microsoft, AT&T and IBM. DOJ’s filing represents the most significant antitrust enforcement action.....

J&F Investmentos SA (“J&F), a Brazilian private investment company, plead guilty to FCPA bribery violations in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.  As part of the plea agreement, J&F agreed to pay a fine of $256 million and to cooperate with ongoing investigations of other companies and individuals involved in the bribery schemes....By: Michael Volkov

FCPA practitioners often debate whether the FCPA is “clear” or “ambiguous.”  Like all important issues in life (assuming this is important), the answer really depends on the specific language.  Congress’ ability to write clear and concise statutes varies across the lot, and the FCPA includes provisions that are clear and some that, depending on the situation, may not be. ...By: Michael Volkov

At the outset, Novartis is “lucky” – the settlement is relatively positive, despite its 2016 SEC enforcement action in China.  Given Novartis weak culture of compliance (if anything, a better description may be a culture of non-compliance) and its status as a recidivist, Novartis could have been slammed with a stiffer enforcement action, including assignment of an independent corporate compliance monitor and a higher penalty. ...By: Michael Volkov

Companies that rely on mergers and acquisition for growth have to build robust post-acquisition integration policies and controls.  Such a requirement applies not only to ethics and compliance program integration but to overall business operations....By: Michael Volkov

Even during this difficult time of the pandemic, economic uncertainty and social unrest, the Justice Department and the SEC have concluded a major FCPA enforcement action. Novartis and Alcon (which was a Novartis subsidiary at the time of the misconduct) agreed to pay a total of $345 million in criminal and civil penalties. Novartis spun off Alcon in 2019. Under the DOJ settlement, Novartis and Alcon each entered into a deferred prosecution agreement; Novartis agreed to pay a fine of $225...B...

The Justice Department’s recent revisions to the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs highlights an important trend and evolution of prosecution focus.  DOJ’s Revised Corporate Compliance Guidance recognized and reinforced the continuing focus on post-acquisition integration versus pre-acquisition due diligence....By: Michael Volkov