Corporate compliance

Some owners of small businesses want to keep their ownership anonymous for various reasons. That just got a lot harder. The trend in many states is to require disclosure. Just last year, the District of Columbia joined other states in enacting legislation requiring the disclosure of beneficial ownership. Other states like Delaware have resisted the change. Now the federal government has entered the fray with the enactment of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). If you are a small business or if you are a small business lawyer assisting a small business, you definitely want to familiarize yourself with the CTA. Under the CTA, small business will have to submit beneficial ownership information to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network. The information will not be available to the general public. The new CTA accelerates that trend and it will become increasingly difficult to shield beneficial ownership information from government authorities and eventually the public at large.

The DOJ on June 1, 2020 issued a revision to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs. The new DOJ Guidance provides companies general principles and elements to consider when designing, implementing, and updating their compliance policies and procedures. The DOJ explains that the purpose of the new guidance is to assist prosecutors in making informed decisions whether and to what extent the company’s compliance program was effective at the time of the offense, and is effective at the time of a charging decision or resolution. Prosecutors can then use the guidance to determine the appropriate (1) form of any resolution or prosecution; (2) monetary penalty, if any; and (3) compliance obligations contained in any corporate criminal resolution.

Formulating policies and procedures is a critical step in building your business. These policies and procedures may be found in an employment manual or a compliance program. Every business and especially those doing business overseas should have an anti-corruption compliance program. This article provides an overview of anti-corruption compliance programs. Anti-corruption programs are quickly becoming part of the compliance landscape for U.S. companies, regardless of size and even those who have little foreign activity.

If you are a foreign company and have loads of money to purchase a U.S. business, the U.S. has generally welcomed your foreign cash. But there are limits regarding the kinds of businesses foreign companies are allowed to acquire. This article provides an overview of The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and its role in reviewing transactions in which a foreign company is buying an interest in a U.S. company. The number of transactions that have to comply with CIFIUS’s notice requirements has increased significantly in recent years and the trend is expected to continue.

You are a business in the United States, and you are about to do business with a Russian company. Caution! Let’s say you find out that your erstwhile business partner is on the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List). Or you find out that your foreign business partner is owned by an individual or company on the SDN List. You need to consult with a sanctions attorney. This article reviews some of the options you have available to you and discusses possible consequences if you are caught violating the sanctions regime.

Sanctions against Russia have put a damper on the enthusiasm of working with Russian businesses. The costs of doing business with Russia may far exceed the benefits because of a web of challenges, including navigating the sanctions regime. In this article, we discuss sanctions against “sectors” of the Russian economy. This type of sanctions applies to companies and individuals in Russia’s financial, energy, and defense sectors. Unlike blanket sanctions against individuals and companies on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), sectoral sanctions are directed at certain sectors.

As businesses enter global markets, they may fail to recognize risks lurking beneath the surface. The U.S. government employs a range of tools to alter or deter what it views as objectionable behavior. The U.S. government targets not only foreign governments, but also individuals and businesses. We provide an overview of economic sanctions, especially as they affect doing business with Russia. We provide an overview of Russia sanctions against Specifically Designated Nationals known as SDNs.