The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, has long been recognized as one of the world’s leading providers of institutionally focused financial services and a preferred destination for the structuring and domiciling of sophisticated and specialized financial services products, particularly investment funds. However, for a number of reasons, the inherent risks to the Cayman Islands’ … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Dubin v. United States, No. 22-10, 2023 WL 3872518, at *1 (U.S. June 8, 2023), in favor of the defendant. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the opinion for the Court, which held that 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1), aggravated identity theft, is violated only when the … Continue Reading
On March 1, 2023, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) demonstrated continued interest in investigating insider trading by company executives who possess material non-public information when they unsealed an indictment and filed a civil complaint, respectively, in the Central District of California. Though a Rule 10b5-1 plan—an investment device … Continue Reading
With the cold and flu season underway and COVID-19 still ever-present, it is a good time to take stock of the potential risks that come with working remotely. Following the lifting of pandemic restrictions allowing offices to open back up, many companies continued to offer work from home or hybrid arrangements. It is important for … Continue Reading
As 2022 comes to a close, is it possible to predict a trend for corporate and white-collar enforcement by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2023? Yes: enforcement will increase in 2023, and it will increase yet more in 2024. Understanding the Department as a dispersed, human institution that responds to incentives explains why.… Continue Reading
This year has brought remarkable change around the globe – including new administrations, changing regulatory approaches, conflicts, and rapidly evolving global sanctions. Staying on top of how these changes impact businesses, individuals and sovereign entities is a challenge that Squire Patton Boggs’ Government Investigations & White Collar team is dedicated to helping our clients manage. … Continue Reading
We recently shared an alert covering The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), which became law on January 1, 2021. The NDAA included significant reforms to the U.S. anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism regime. Division F of the NDAA consists of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, which includes … Continue Reading
On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash for having laundered more than USD 7 billion worth of virtual currency since its founding in 2019. This includes over USD 455 million worth of stolen virtual currency associated with the Lazarus Group, … Continue Reading
“Russia should not benefit from European knowledge and expertise.” That is the view of European Commission (“EC”) President Ursula von der Leyen, who recently proposed an eighth package of sanctions against Russia in response to “escalation” in Ukraine. Among the “biting” new sanctions will be a wider ban on the provision of European services to … Continue Reading
The authors would like to thank Nicole Brenner for her contribution to this post. Trade secrets offer companies an invaluable advantage over competitors, but only if the company maintains secrecy and responds promptly to threats. If a company’s success depends on its trade secrets, the protections in place to maintain those secrets will be scrutinized … Continue Reading
The Wolfsberg Group, an association of thirteen global banks which develops frameworks and guidance for the management of financial crime risks, particularly with respect to KYC, AML, and CFT policies, recently released a set of frequently asked questions on negative news screening and other forms of adverse information searches. Negative news screening can assist financial … Continue Reading
President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) into law in December 2021. Beginning on June 21, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a “rebuttable presumption” that all goods originating from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region violate an existing ban on the importation of goods made with forced labor into the … Continue Reading
Industrial espionage refers to various activities performed to gain an unfair competitive advantage, rather than for national security purposes. As we discussed in a previous article, the ways in which industrial espionage can affect a company are numerous and include theft of trade secrets and disruption to operation. Section 1832 of the Economic Espionage Act … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs has published its first edition of the Commodities & Shipping Group’s (CSG) Quarterly Update. The topic we chose to focus on for this publication is slavery in supply chains. The Global Survey Index reports over 45.8 million people are subject to modern slavery (26% of whom are children, and 55% are women … Continue Reading
We recently shared a timely post on Consumer Privacy World that, given the focus of, we wanted to call to your attention. “President Biden has recently delivered on a long stated priority of his presidency: requiring the disclosure of cyber security incidents for companies that operate critical infrastructure. After announcing an executive order in May … Continue Reading
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (“NDAA”) became law early in 2021, after a congressional override of then-President Trump’s veto. Division F of the NDAA consists of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”). The AMLA expands numerous Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) requirements, and amends the BSA’s definition of “financial institution” to include persons … Continue Reading
On October 23, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the ‘‘Board’’) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) soliciting public comment on questions relating to potential amendments to Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) regulations. The proposed … Continue Reading
On May 19, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump signed Executive Order 13924, to provide regulatory relief for entities economically impacted by the pandemic. Section 6 of the Executive Order directed agencies to revise their procedures and practices in administrative investigations and enforcement in light of certain enumerated principles of fairness. It … Continue Reading
Ask the bank that just paid the SEC more than $ 6 million for failing to adequately train its Asia Pacific Region (APAC) personnel on antibribery with respect to hiring practices. The bank had policies against hiring personnel in exchange for business, but, according to the SEC’s order, the company “failed to effectively train APAC … Continue Reading
In late April, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hit Yahoo with a $35 million dollar fine for failing to properly assess and disclose a 2014 data breach that affected more than 500 million user accounts. The case marks the first time the SEC has charged a public company with cybersecurity-related disclosure violations and … Continue Reading
Mexico’s anticorruption legislation requires a strong corporate compliance program. In the third of his posts about the Mexican National Anticorruption System, Jose Martin explains effects of the law on compliance. Read the full post here.… Continue Reading
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein pledged an enforcement environment in which businesses can thrive. In keynote remarks at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, he emphasized the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) commitment to “avoiding unnecessary interference in law-abiding enterprises.” Rosenstein also promoted the benefits of corporate compliance and self-reporting. Although allegedly offering “no breaking news” about DOJ policies, … Continue Reading
1. New laws or regulations State level: No developments. Local level (Beijing & Shanghai): No developments. Communist Party Rules: No developments. 2. Upcoming laws or regulations No developments. 3. Government Action (1) It was reported on November 4, 2016 that Zhuang Yao (“Zhuang”), the former Chairman of Guangdong Materials Group Co., Ltd. (“GMGC”), a state-owned … Continue Reading
1. New laws or regulations State level: No developments. Local level (Beijing & Shanghai): No developments. Communist Party Rules: No developments. 2. Upcoming laws or regulations No developments. 3. Government Action (1) It was reported on October 14, 2016 that Li Jie (“Li”), the former Deputy Mayor of Haikou City, Hainan Province, was sentenced to … Continue Reading
