The following post was originally included as part of our recently published memorandum “Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2022”.

The path was paved in 2021 for unprecedented tax developments in the coming years for large businesses, especially for multinationals and investment businesses operating across borders. The year ended with what appeared to be significant progress in the OECD/G-20 “inclusive framework” project, with nearly 140 countries working to fundamentally change some of the ways in which they will tax multinational businesses. 2022 may also bring other new taxes and new tax regimes, amidst enhanced investigations and enforcement action in key jurisdictions like the United States and the European Union.

To read the full post, please click here.

For a PDF of the full memorandum, please click here.

The following post was originally included as part of our recently published memorandum “Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2022”.

2021 was a year of transition for white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement. As courthouses reopened and trials resumed, newly-installed heads of law enforcement authorities looked to reset priorities and ramp up enforcement in the first year of the Biden administration.  Policy priorities shifted toward enforcement against sophisticated financial institutions, corporates and their executives, in contrast to the previous administration’s focus on retail investors and schemes with identifiable victims.  While the shift at the SEC was more immediately visible with major new enforcement priorities, investigations and resolutions, the DOJ adopted policies and announced new initiatives that will likely only find expression in 2022.

To read the full post, please click here.

For a PDF of the full memorandum, please click here.

On December 6, 2021, the Biden Administration issued the “United States Strategy on Countering Corruption”. It is the U.S. government’s first-ever comprehensive anti-corruption plan, and “marks a new chapter” in the country’s efforts to curb graft. If the Administration is successful in executing it, the Strategy may spur a significant increase in anti-corruption investigations and actions. It was issued against the backdrop of heightened focus by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission on anti-corruption enforcement.

Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.

On October 28, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced the administration’s first significant changes to the DOJ’s policies on corporate criminal enforcement, highlighting departures from Trump-era policies. The announcement focused on three corporate enforcement policy developments:

  1. Individuals and Corporate Misconduct: to be eligible for cooperation credit, companies must provide the DOJ with all non-privileged information about individuals involved or responsible for the misconduct at issue, regardless of their position, status, or seniority;
  2. Consideration of Prior Misconduct: all prior misconduct will be evaluated as part of the DOJ’s decision-making on proper corporate resolution, whether or not that misconduct is similar to the conduct at issue for a particular investigation; and
  3. Revisions to Corporate Monitorship Guidance: for companies cooperating with the government, there will be no default presumption against corporate monitors. Rather, the decision on whether to impose a corporate monitor will be determined on the facts and circumstances of each case.

This initial set of changes to the DOJ’s corporate enforcement policies signals what most expected from the Biden administration: a renewed and aggressive focus on and approach to corporate misconduct.

Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.

On October 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued “Sanctions Compliance Guidance for the Virtual Currency Industry” (the “Guidance”).  The Guidance follows recent guidance and advisory letters directed to the virtual currency industry relating to the risk of facilitating ransomware payments[1] and is OFAC’s most comprehensive virtual currency-specific advisory to date.  In particular, the Guidance directly addresses some simpler interpretive questions, discusses sanctions compliance programs and “best practices,” and provides hints about OFAC’s enforcement priorities going forward. Continue Reading OFAC Issues Sanctions Guidance to Virtual Currency Industry

On September 2 and 3, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced settlements with Pareteum Corporation (“Pareteum”) and Kraft Heinz Co.[1] (“KHC”) for accounting fraud following years of alleged accounting improprieties and financial restatements at both companies.  The underlying facts differed in significant ways, including with respect to the alleged involvement of senior executives, but both companies apparently received cooperation credit for their prompt and proactive remediation and cooperation with the SEC Division of Enforcement’s investigations.  The messaging in relation to the announcement of these cases and their timing, coming in the early days of new Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal’s tenure, is instructive.  We expect the SEC to continue to focus on accounting fraud and to credit companies who provide cooperation in these challenging and resource-intensive investigations.  To see a meaningful increase in the frequency and nature of cooperation, the SEC would be well-served to provide even more explicit guidance on how cooperation results in improved settlement terms.  That said, these recent settlements are helpful in understanding the benefits of cooperation at this time. Continue Reading Two Recent Settlements Highlight Heightened SEC Focus on Accounting Fraud and Potential Benefits of Cooperation

On August 9, 2021, the SEC issued a cease-and-desist order against digital asset exchange Poloniex, Inc. for allegedly operating an unregistered exchange in violation of Section 5 of the Exchange Act in connection with its operation of a trading platform that facilitated the buying and selling of digital asset securities.[1]

In the cease-and-desist order, the SEC alleged that Poloniex met the definition of an “exchange” because it “provided the non-discretionary means for trade orders to interact and execute through the combined use of the Poloniex website, an order book, and the Poloniex trading engine.”  The SEC also found, based on internal communications, that Poloniex decided to be “aggressive,” ultimately listing token(s) it had internally determined carried a “medium” risk of being considered securities under the Securities Act of 1933 pursuant to the test set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in SEC v. W.J. Howey.[2]  However, the SEC did not identify what digital asset(s) it determined were securities nor why, simply stating that Poloniex facilitated trading of “digital assets that were investment contracts and therefore securities.”

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Poloniex agreed to the entry of the order and a payment of $10,388,309 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty. Continue Reading SEC Enforcement Action Against Poloniex Signals Heightened Scrutiny for Crypto Exchanges

On July 29, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed a securities and wire fraud indictment against Trevor Milton, the founder and one-time chairman of Nikola Corporation (“Nikola”), a pre-revenue electric- and hydrogen-powered vehicle company which went public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”).[1]  The Indictment alleges that Milton made deceptive, false, and misleading claims regarding Nikola’s products and technology, which were directed at retail investors through social media and television, print, and podcast interviews.  The SEC also filed a parallel civil action against Milton, alleging violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, and which contends that Milton engaged in a “relentless public relations blitz” on social media and the popular press directed at “Robinhood investors” in order to inflate Nikola’s stock price.

These actions further confirm the heightened law enforcement and regulatory scrutiny of SPACs, as well as continuing interest by government authorities in protecting retail investors in so-called meme stocks.[2] Continue Reading DOJ Indicts Founder of Nikola for Allegedly Defrauding Retail SPAC Investors

On July 13, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a major enforcement action related to a proposed merger between a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) and a privately held target company (“Target”).  This followed numerous warnings by the SEC staff over several months of enhanced scrutiny of such transactions under the federal securities laws.[1]  The respondents, except for the Target’s CEO, settled the action by collectively agreeing to civil penalties of approximately $8 million and to certain equitable relief described below. [2] Continue Reading SEC Brings SPAC Enforcement Action and Signals More to Come

On May 6, 2021, the United States Government Accountability Office (“GAO”)—an independent, non-partisan congressional watchdog organization—published a report summarizing its study on the impact of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) reorganization of its fair lending enforcement and supervisory activities.[1]  In 2018, the Trump administration-led CFPB decided to relocate the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity (the “Office of Fair Lending”) from the Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending Division (“SEFL”) to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Fairness (“OEOF”), a division within the Office of the CFPB Director that plays no role in enforcement.  GAO found shortcomings in the reorganization process and highlighted that the reorganization likely led to a decrease in fair lending enforcement activity in 2018.  GAO ultimately recommended that the Bureau analyze the effects of the reorganization on its enforcement and supervision of fair lending laws, develop performance goals, and take measures to assess its fair lending activities going forward.

While not binding on the CFPB, GAO’s report is significant as it comes at a time when the current administration has signaled that it is motivated to increase enforcement of fair lending laws. Acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio has committed the Bureau to implementing GAO’s recommendations, and Biden’s CFPB Director nominee Rohit Chopra has similarly expressed that he would focus on fair lending.  Likewise, progressive advocates are using the report as an opportunity to apply increased pressure on the Biden administration to become more active in this area. Continue Reading GAO Recommends CFPB Evaluate Trump Era Fair Lending Reorganization