Monday Compliance News - Around the World

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

GCSG's Monday Compliance News is a compilation of some of the previous weeks interesting trade compliance, anti-bribery/corruption, fraud, and due diligence news bites, from around the world.

Police raid BT's Italian offices over £530m accounting scandal  - The Times

"BT's offices in Italy have been raided by police as part of an investigation into a £530 million accounting scandal." (Click here for the article) - Italy

Investigation in Brazil "much bigger" than Watergate, says lead prosecutor - CBS News

"The political corruption investigation in Brazil known as Operation Car Wash is 'much bigger' than the Watergate scandal in the U.S., the lead prosecutor tells correspondent Anderson Cooper..." (Click here for the article) - Brazil

Trump administration formally launches NAFTA renegotiation - Washington Post

"The Trump administration on Thursday formally notified Congress of its intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, a step forward on a campaign promise that was widely popular among voters..." (Click here for the article) - USA, Mexico, Canada

Brazil's corruption scandals may be the best thing to happen to Latin America - Miami Herald

"If you think that the corruption scandal swirling around Brazilian President Michel Temer is the only one that will shake Latin America in coming weeks, mark your calendar..." (Click here for the article) - Brazil, Latin America

FIFA audit official admits bribery in US federal probe - USA Today

"The sprawling American investigation of bribery and corruption in international soccer has reached into Asia and claimed the first guilty plea from a senior official in the new FIFA leadership." (Click here for the article) - Switzerland, USA, Guam, Kuwait, Philippines, Germany, France

FDA launches new webpage to promote use of symbols in medical device labeling (Imports) - Customs & International Trade Law

"If you think that the corruption scandal swirling around Brazilian President Michel Temer is the only one that will shake Latin America in coming weeks, mark your calendar..." (Click here for the article) - USA

Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Economic Espionage and Theft of a Trade Secret from US Company - The US Department of Justice

"Today, Xu Jiaqiang, 31, formerly of Beijing, China, pleaded guilty to economic espionage and theft of a trade secret, in connection with Xu's theft of proprietary source code from Xu's former employer..." (Click here for the article) - USA, China

Big data driving SEC focus on disclosures, recommendations and security - OnWallStreet

"Advisers will see SEC regulators employ new methods to investigate a firm's staff training, the suitability of its investment recommendations, conflicts of interest disclosures and cybersecurity safeguards..." (Click here for the article) - USA

UK Plans to Fold Serious Fraud Office into NCA Meet Skepticism - The Wall Street Journal

"UK Prime Minister Theresa May promised to fold the Serious Fraud Office into the National Crime Agency if her Conservative Party wins the general election next month..." (Click here for the article) - UK

More CEOs are getting forced out for ethics violations - Washington Post

"If it seems like more CEOs are getting cast aside amid ethical blunders or corporate scandals, they are." (Click here for the article) - USA

US Presses China to impose sanctions on DPRK - worldecr.com

"The US has indicated that it believes that China will agree to impose new UN sanctions on North Korea..." (Click here for the article) - USA, China, North Korea

Monday Compliance News - Around the World

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

GCSG's Monday Compliance News is a compilation of some of the previous weeks interesting trade compliance, anti-bribery/corruption, fraud, and due diligence news bites, from around the world.

Global Trade Growth is About to Slow, Morgan Stanley Says - MH&L

"Signs are pointing to a looming slowdown in global trade growth according to Morgan Stanley.  Each component of the bank's proprietary global trade leading indicator -- save for the U.S. dollar -- declined in April to mark back-to-back drops for the index, which is used to forecast real activity with a one-month lead." (Click here for the article) - Global

Qualcomm settles FCPA charges in hiring case for $7.5 million - The FCPA Blog

"The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that Qualcomm Incorporated agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by hiring relatives of Chinese government officials." (Click here for the article) - China, USA

31% of surveyed firms in Vietnam pay bribes for customs procedures

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

On April 27, 2017, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) released the results of a 2016 survey that shows 31% of businesses admitted to paying "under the table" fees for customs procedures.

The survey was released in cooperation with Vietnam Customs and shows a slight increase from the 2015 survey when 28% of respondents indicated they paid customs bribes.  Some of the interesting results from the survey respondents include:

  • 17% said they would experience customs procedure delays if they did not pay the bribe
  • 81% indicated that the inspection times were long
  • 72% said information sharing among agencies was not good   

Both the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 (CPI) and the Trace Matrix 2016 (TM) rank Vietnam as a high risk for bribery.  CPI ranks Vietnam 113 out of 176 countries and TM ranks Vietnam 175 out of 199 countries for bribery risk.

The survey results demonstrate the necessity of having awareness of the markets in which your company operates as well as having a good compliance program in place that includes risk based diligence of your third parties. 

Often bribery risk for a corporation will arise from third party vendors who are facilitating transactions on your behalf.  Customs brokers should be part of any good third party due diligence program.

GCSG offers a variety of due diligence services and reports and utilizes a risk based ranking method to help our clients develop a tailored approach to their third party due diligence program.  Contact us at info@globalcompliancesg.com with any additional question's or for more information on how we can help you with your third party due diligence program. 

US Attorney General Issues Charging and Sentencing Principles

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

On Friday, May 12 US Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum providing charging and sentencing principles for the US Department of Justice (DOJ).  The DOJ in its press release said "This policy was formulated after extensive consultation with Assistant U.S. Attorneys at both trial and appellate level, as well as U.S. Attorneys and Main Justice Attorneys.  It ensures that the Department enforces the law fairly and consistently, advances public safety and promotes respect for our legal system."

The guiding principles within the memo include:

  • Prosecutors should charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense
  • Prosecutors must disclose to the sentencing court all facts that impact the sentencing guidelines or mandatory minimum sentences, and should in all cases seek a reasonable sentence under the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553

In addition, the memo rescinds any previous policy of the DOJ that is inconsistent with the above guiding principles.

Key Links:

Monday Compliance News - Around the World

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

GCSG's Monday Compliance News is a compilation of some of the previous weeks interesting trade compliance, anti-bribery/corruption, fraud, and due diligence news bites, from around the world.

US President Issues Executive Order Addressing Trade Agreement Violations and Abuses - The White House (Click here for the EO) - USA

India bans all trade with North Korea - CNN Money

"North Korea has lost one of its biggest trading partners after India banned most dealings with the country." (Click here for the article) - India, North Korea

Huawei's Plano office responds to NYT report about investigation into smartphone maker's sales to Iran, Syria, others - The Dallas Morning News

"American officials are investigating whether the company violated American trade controls on Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, according to an administrative subpoena..." (Click here for the article) - China, USA

UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) confirmed investigation opened into KBR, Inc. - SFO News Releases (Click here for the news release) - UK, USA

FBI agents raid offices, government buildings across Texas in statewide corruption probe - Hearst Newspapers, LLC

"The FBI descended on a host of city and county government buildings...across Texas, executing search warrants as part of a public corruption probe..." (Click here for the article) - USA

Monday Compliance News - Around the World

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

GCSG's Monday Compliance News is a compilation of some of the previous weeks interesting trade compliance, anti-bribery/corruption, fraud, and due diligence news bites, from around the world, that we deliver on Monday morning's.

UK's failure to deal with customs fraud could affect post-Brexit trade deal with the EU - IBTimes Co., Ltd.

"EU expected to seek 2bn from Britain for not stopping Chinese gangs undervaluing imported goods." (Click here for the article) - UK, European Union

China Indicts Former Statistics Bureau Director Wang for Bribery - Bloomberg

"Wang Baoan, former head of China's National Bureau of Statistics, was indicted on suspicion of accepting bribes, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday." (Click here for the article) - China

Brazilians fight back against corruption - with the help of a purple plug-in - theguardian

"Released before what is expected to be the highest general strike in decades, Colour of Corruption is an online political scorecard that details criminal allegations against members of the cabinet, the upper and lower houses of parliament, state governors, their deputies - and even the president." (Click here for the article) - Brazil

US President slaps first tariffs on Canadian lumber  - CNN Money

"The Trump administration is hitting Canada with stiff tariffs of up to 24% on lumber shipped into the United States." (Click here for the article) - USA

US Attorney General Stresses Continued FCPA Enforcement - Wall Street Journal

"The US attorney general stressed Monday that prosecutors won't relent in their pursuit of foreign-bribery cases." (Click here for the article) - USA

US Administration Launches National Security Probe on Steel Imports - Wall Street Journal

"The Trump administration has opened a wide-ranging probe into whether to curb steel imports in the name of national security, ramping up its campaign to give a more economic nationalist tinge to American trade policy." (Click here for the article) - USA

US administration launches investigation into aluminum imports - CNN

"President Donald Trump on Thursday will formally order an investigation into the effect of aluminum imports on US national security." (Click here for the article) - USA

Monday Compliance News - Around the World

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

GCSG's Monday Compliance News is a compilation of some of the previous weeks interesting compliance news bites, from around the world, that we deliver every Monday morning. 

Identity Fraud Cases Skyrocket in Netherlands - NLTimes.nl

"The number of reports about identity fraud in the Netherlands more than doubled last year, according to figures from the Identity Fraud Hotline." (Click here for the article) - Netherlands

How hackers made off with millions - Thomson Reuters

"It's been a little over a year since the New York Federal Reserve and the SWIFT international transaction system were breached in a cyber-attack that resulted in $81 million stolen from a Bangladesh central bank account - one of the biggest known bank thefts in history" (Click here for the article) - USA, Bangladesh

Report Faults Wells Fargo's Law Department in Sham-Accounts Scandal - Law.com

"The report, released Monday, was commissioned by Wells Fargo last year after the bank agreed to pay $185 million to settle accusations that employees opened as many as 2.2 million unauthorized accounts by transferring funds without customers consent from existing accounts." (Click here for the article) - USA

The money machine: how a high-profile corruption investigation fell apart - Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies

"The 2014 summit - much like David Cameron's highly publicized global Anti-Corruption Summit in 2016 - was intended to show Britain's determination to live up to its responsibilities.  Instead, the case of the $23m collapsed within a year - when a British judge ruled that the SFO had built its case on 'conjecture and suspicion', and ordered the money returned to its owner." (Click here for the article) - Britain, Ukraine

North Korea oil imports, airline among possible US sanctions targets - Thomson Reuters

"...the Trump administration is focusing its North Korea strategy on tougher economic sanctions, possibly including an oil embargo, banning its airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang..." (Click here for the article) - USA, North Korea, China

How one of the world's biggest oil firms secured a $1.3 billion deal mired in corruption allegations - BuzzFeed

"On the evening of 17 February 2016...the chief executive of oil giant Shell, picked up his phone...The topic of their conversation: a 'dawn raid' on the company's headquarters earlier that day by Dutch police investigating a controversial $1.3 billion Nigerian oil deal struck five years previously." (Click here for the article) - Netherlands, Italy, Nigeria

Trump considers trade order that could lead to duties - CNBC

"U.S. President Donald Trump is considering an executive order to launch a trade investigation that could lead to supplemental duties in certain product categories..." (Click here for the article) - USA

France passes supply chain due diligence law

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

On February 21, 2017, the French National Assembly passed a law that requires certain companies based in France, to establish an "effective vigilance plan" (the "Plan") within their global supply chains.  The due diligence law is applicable to the following types of companies:

  • Any company that has its registered office in France that employs at least 2,000 employees (at its close of two consecutive financial years), within the country, in its head office and in its direct or indirect subsidiaries; and
  • Any company, registered in France, with at least 10,000 employees worldwide in its parent company and its direct or indirect subsidiaries, whose head office is in France or whose head office is abroad

The law requires the Plan to include "reasonable vigilance" measures to identify risks and prevent serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the health and safety of persons and the environment resulting from the activities of society, those of the companies it controls (directly or indirectly), as well as the activities of subcontractors or suppliers with whom an established commercial relationship is maintained.  The law outlines the following key measures to be included in the Plan:

  • Risk mapping intended to identify, analyze, and rank
  • Procedures that require regular assessment of compliance with the plan of subsidiaries, subcontractors or suppliers with whom an established commercial relationship is maintained with regard to risk mapping
  • Documented actions to be taken to mitigate risks or prevent serious harm
  • A mechanism for collecting alerts on the existence or risks
  • A mechanism for monitoring the measures implemented and evaluating their effectiveness

Failure to comply with the requirements of the law within three months of the date of the formal notice, can subject a company to a civil fine that can not exceed € 10 million. 

Human Rights Watch said of the law, "..France took a historic step toward reducing these human rights abuses.  Parliament passed a law that pushes for accountability for multinational companies sourcing from global supply chains."(1)

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Employers can use FBI "Rap Back" service for real-time background updates

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

For years, authorized entities have collected and submitted civil fingerprints to the FBI for criminal background checks for noncriminal purposes.  For various reasons, most of the submitted civil fingerprints were not retained.  However, the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system will now retain all civil fingerprints.  The retention of all civil fingerprints now provides for the feasibility of the Rap Back Service (RBS).

"Employers enrolled in federal and state Rap Back programs receive ongoing, real-time notifications and updates about their employees' run-ins with law enforcement", according to a report by the The Intercept, by Ava Kofman. 

For the RBS, the FBI will retain the prints it collects on behalf of companies so they are able to notify employers about their employee's future encounters with law enforcement.

The Rap Back program is targeted for individuals in "positions of trust", but there is no formal limit on the population of individuals that can be enrolled in the service.     

The first step in using the RBS is an initial determination of suitability.  Following the initial background check, a subscription to the service may be created.  Employers may even purchase a lifetime subscription for $13 per person.

Several organizations have voiced civil liberty concerns, with the FBI retaining this type of data.  Jay Stanley, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said "With the Construction of such a powerful surveillance tool, and all the potential for abuse that it brings, comes the need for checks and balances of commensurate strength.  Yet the FBI appears to be moving in exactly the opposite direction, seeking to exempt itself even from the limited privacy protections that so far exist in law."  

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