Insights

Washington – June 1, 2023: Crowell & Moring earned 82 rankings for 68 lawyers across 48 categories, as well as 37 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2023 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

On Friday, the Department of Justice released an updated version of its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“ECCP”) guidance—the latest in a series of updates to the administration’s approach to corporate criminal resolutions, and the first substantive update to the ECCP guidance since June 2020. The update marks the latest pronouncement in the Department’s ongoing focus on corporate compliance programs, highlights a continued emphasis on individual accountability, and in particular, fleshes out its expectations in two key areas—compliance related compensation and consequences, and management of messaging apps—providing corporate leaders and compliance teams with additional detail to guide programmatic and policy decisions.

On July 3, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released the second edition of their Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “Guide”). This new edition provides several clarifications on the enforcement agencies’ view of the FCPA, adds summaries of recent cases and declinations, incorporates DOJ's recently updated guidance on the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, and addresses other agency policies issued since the first edition including the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy and policies on the selection of monitors and the coordination of corporate resolutions. Although the substance of the Guide remains largely unchanged, it does contain several notable edits that give some further insight into DOJ and SEC’s perspective on key developments in the law and enforcement issues under the FCPA since the first edition was published in 2012. While companies’ attention may be elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic, they should nevertheless remain vigilant in maintaining and enforcing their anti-bribery and anti-corruption programs. This updated Guide provides additional insights for doing so.

On Monday, June 1, 2020, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Criminal Division issued an updated version of the “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” guidance. The guidance was originally published by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in February 2017, and last revised in April 2019. The updated guidance emphasizes the need for companies to ensure that their compliance function is sufficiently resourced and empowered to fulfill its mission, and to engage in continuous improvement—evolving as necessary to meet changing circumstances and challenges. The updated guidance also provides practical takeaways on issues related to training, testing, mergers and acquisitions, and the impact of foreign law on a company’s compliance program. Given the unique stressors and challenges that the coronavirus pandemic has created, this updated guidance is a timely reminder for companies to assess whether their compliance program comports with best practices and DOJ’s expectations.

The Government Investigations & Civil Litigation Institute's (GICLI) Fifth Annual Meeting shares valuable experiences and practical strategies for handling government investigations and related civil litigation at collegial round-table and panel discussions.

This exciting networking event and panel will feature in-house counsel from different business sectors discussing their practice, career background, and experience with federal regulatory and/or litigation work.

This event will showcase the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) to lawyers in the U.S., with a focus on the hot issues for 2018, including international trade under the “new rules” of the Trump Administration.

In a forthcoming installment of Crowell & Moring’s webinar series, our White Collar and Investigations attorneys will discuss how ongoing supply chain issues have translated into heightened bribery and corruption risk for companies doing business abroad.  Our panelists will identify new and evolving risk areas and discuss best practices for mitigation, including the role of a well-resourced compliance program, risk-based due diligence, and other tools. This panel will also address recent developments in the anti-corruption space (including the new U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption and recent updates to OECD anti-bribery guidance), what may lie ahead in anti-corruption enforcement, and what companies should do now to prepare. 

Supply chain issues are a top concern for many companies across industries and markets. Please join us for a webinar series that explores these issues and provides insights on the various legal and tactical considerations as companies think about supply chain disruption, impacts, and solutions.