Jerrob Duffy, former head of DOJ's litigation unit in the criminal fraud section, has joined Hogan Lovells as a partner in the investigations, white collar and fraud practice, the firm announced. Duffy joins from Squire Patton, and his practice includes sanctions violations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act proceedings and the False Claims Act investigations, Hogan Lovells said.
State attorneys general may take the lead on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement in light of the Donald Trump administration's pause on enforcing the act, attorneys at Crowell & Moring said in an April 14 alert. There's good reason to believe states will follow California's lead in announcing that it will enforce anti-foreign bribery efforts, the firm said.
The U.K., Switzerland and France last week launched a new task force that they said will “strengthen our collective effort” to tackle bribery- and corruption-related crimes. The three countries’ International Anti-Corruption Prosecutorial Taskforce will allow them to regularly share information on enforcement work and propose coordinating on cases, they said. The task force was announced more than a month after the Trump administration unveiled plans to roll back enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (see 2502100055 and 2502120051).
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Abby Kohlman, former DOJ prosecutor in the fraud section, has rejoined Akin Gump as senior counsel in the white collar defense and government investigations practice, the firm announced. At DOJ, Kohlman also served as special counsel for the Office of Legislative Affairs. Kohlman's practice will focus on advising clients on congressional investigations and other government inquiries, including those related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
President Donald Trump's recent executive order halting prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act likely won't change the behavior of many companies, given the risk of prosecution globally or in the U.S. after Trump leaves office, lawyers said.
President Donald Trump on Feb. 10 instructed the attorney general to cease from opening any new investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for 180 days so that the Office of the Attorney General can issue new guidelines for FCPA enforcement that "prioritize American interests" and U.S. "economic competitiveness." In the order, Trump said the FCPA has been "abused" and "impedes the United States' foreign policy objectives."
President Donald Trump is poised to roll back enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act until Attorney General Pam Bondi can issue new enforcement guidelines, Bloomberg reported Feb. 10. Trump is expected to sign an executive order halting FCPA enforcement until all current and past actions are reviewed and the guidelines are issued. A fact sheet being drafted by the administration says "U.S. companies are harmed by FCPA overenforcement because they are prohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field," according to the report.
McKinsey and Co. Africa, a subsidiary of consulting giant McKinsey, will pay over $122 million to settle an investigation that found the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to South African government officials from 2012 to 2016, DOJ announced. A former McKinsey senior partner, Vikas Sagar, pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme.
Laura Perkins, former assistant chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit at DOJ, has joined Cadwalader Wickersham as a partner, the firm announced. Perkins worked at DOJ from 2007 to 2015 and was most recently a lawyer with Hughes Hubbard.