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For U.S. businesses, sanctions compliance has never been more challenging or more important.  The U.S. has responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a broad range of sanctions targeting the Russian government, its officials, oligarchs and Russia’s financial and energy industries, among others.  Indeed, since the invasion of Ukraine, the agency that administers sanctions, the…

On January 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued new guidance to incentivize voluntary self-disclosure (“VSD”) of possible violations of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). This new guidance—which was announced in conjunction with a speech by BIS’s top enforcement official indicating the EAR enforcement is an increasingly important priority…

During a summit celebrating its one-year anniversary, the Disruptive Technology Strike Force provided updates on its efforts to prevent authoritarian regimes and hostile nation-states from acquiring critical technologies.

Read on for details about a new expansion of the effort, recent prosecutions and the group’s continued focus on cases involving theft of trade secrets and export…

The Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) establishes program, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for certain financial institutions to combat and detect money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit activities.  On February 13, 2024, FinCEN proposed new rules which expand the scope of the BSA to include certain investment advisers, which currently are not subject to any federal…

Rule Regarding Access to Beneficial Ownership Information Takes Effect

On February 21, 2024, FinCEN published a Small Entity Compliance Guide to aid in compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act’s (“CTA”) Beneficial Ownership Information (“BOI”) Access and Safeguards Rule (“Access Rule”).  The Compliance Guide is called the Small Entity Compliance Guide only because federal law requires…

On February 1, 2024, the G7+ Coalition (consisting of the G7, the European Union, and Australia) published an Oil Price Cap (OPC) Compliance and Enforcement Alert (the “Alert”), identifying notable OPC evasion methods and recommending various methods to reduce the risk of evasion and its negative impacts.  The OPC was enacted in December 2022 in…

RELATED UPDATE: Deputy Attorney General Monaco Announces New DOJ Whistleblower Program (March 8, 2024)

As of January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) has gone into effect. Companies that may be Reporting Companies of Beneficial Ownership Information (“BOI”) should be aware of three key aspects of the CTA.

  • One, entities formed on or after

…

Corporate Transparency Act Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements to Take Effect

In 2021, the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) was enacted as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, requiring certain business entities (“Reporting Companies”) to report beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”).  FinCEN issued the final…

On 26 October 2023, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act received royal assent. The new law is designed to fight corruption, money laundering and fraud, and has major implications for businesses, including:

  • The creation of a new “failure to prevent fraud” offence, imposing criminal liability on large organisations for wrongdoing committed by staff, agents

    • …

    In the U.S. Department of Justice’s continuing efforts to incentivize voluntary disclosure of corporate misconduct, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the Criminal Division’s latest corporate self-disclosure policy this week, aimed at mergers and acquisitions specifically (remarks Here).  Pursuant to DOJ’s new Mergers and Acquisitions Safe Harbor Policy (the “Policy”), acquiring companies that promptly…