Investigations trends and updates

Dear all

We have set out below key recent global investigations trends and updates.

Please contact the authors if you would like to discuss any of the issues raised.

Kind regards,
The Norton Rose Fulbright team

Webinars

Global: Conducting remote investigations webinar providing practical guidance on: (i) data preservation and collection; (ii) interviews; and (iii) calls and other practicalities as well as looking into an insight into future trends. Ruth Cowley (UK) moderated the discussion with: Katie Stephen (UK), Orlando Vidal (UAE), Wilson Ang (SIN) and Andrew Reeves (UK) on the panel.

Watch a recording of the webinar here.

Netherlands: Compliance leaders’ perspectives on COVID-19: Adjusting to the new reality. Speakers included the Vice President of American Express, Group Risk and Compliance Director at SBM Offshore, head of conduct and ethics at ABN AMRO and Investigations partner Sharon Oded.

Watch a recording of the webinar here.

Netherlands: Compliance leaders’ perspectives on COVID-19: Red flags, internal reports and investigations in the new reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharon Oded presented with speakers from VEON (formerly Vimplecom), Philips and AkzoNobel.

Watch a recording of the webinar here.

UK/US/Dubai/Hong Kong: Conducting investigations remotely: Five key points to navigate the new normal

With current circumstances accelerating the shift towards increased remote and flexible working, a number of challenges arise when conducting investigations. This article sets out the key considerations when navigating those challenges.

Read the article by Ruth Cowley, Katie Stephen (UK), Wilson Ang (SIN), Orlando Vidal (DUB) and Andrew Reeves (UK) here.

US: Supreme Court to decide whether SEC may obtain disgorgement of ‘ill-gotten gains’

The Supreme Court is to resolve the important issue of whether the SEC may seek disgorgement of defendants’ ill-gotten gains. 

Read the article by Kevin Harnisch and Illana Sinkin (US) here.

US: Non-US citizen convicted of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act despite no practical ties to US

Read the article by Kevin J. Harnisch, Jeffrey W. Cottle, Keith M. Rosen, Samuel Romero Ramer, Niamh Ni Cheallachain (US) here.

Germany: New provisions on internal investigations have been introduced under a new draft bill to fight corporate crime

Read the article by Dr Alexander Cappel and Dr Christina Hund (DE) here.

US: Insider trading prosecutions may increase after Second Circuit decision lowered barriers to convict

This ruling seems poised to change the landscape of insider trading prosecutions.

Read the article by Kevin J. Harnisch, Ilana Beth Sinkin, Vijay Rao (US) here.

Canada: Fraud prevention: An essential function during the pandemic

This article describes how organisations are at a heightened risk of fraud during a financial crisis, such as the one we are seeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers fraud prevention controls to organisations.

Read the article by Julie Himo, Jeremy Devereux, Jordan Deering and Kieran Siddall (CAN) here.

South Africa: COVID-19 creates unfavourable and uncertain economic conditions, increasing the likelihood of corruption and bribery

Organisations should therefore employ new and flexible measures to strengthen anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts whilst also ensuring compliance with anti-corruption laws.

Read the article by André Vos and Ntokozo Mbonani (RSA) here.

US: Global tax authorities in the US are increasingly issuing harsher penalties

And there is potential criminal exposure for companies operating in the crypto-market industry.

This article highlights three recent developments and offers suggestions for exposed institutions.

Read the article by Carlos F. Ortiz, Mayling C. Blanco, Robert C. Morris, Megan Linares, Devlin Healey (US) here.

UK

Our UK employment team explore two recent employment cases which have highlighted the importance of conducting investigations into employee misconduct correctly.

Read the article by Amanda Sanders and Lauren Pullen-Stanley (UK) here.

UK: Using WhatsApp at work contains many risks

And care should be taken to ensure confidential work-related messages are not disclosed on the platform as there are a number of hurdles that complicate accessing WhatsApp messages.

Read the article by Sonya Zywko, Katie Stephen, and Marcus Evans (UK) here.

US: Securities law liability for securities issuers outside of the United States

May change the way that non-US companies view the sale of their securities in the US.

Read the white paper by Kevin Harnisch, Andrew Price, Patrick Doyle (US) and James Bateson (UK) here.

US: House of Representatives passes SAFE Banking Act of 2019

The bill generally prohibits US banking regulators from penalising banks for providing financial services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses and service providers. This article discusses the implications.

Read the article by Kevin J. Harnisch, Mike Keeley, Ilana Beth Sinkin (US) here.

Hong Kong: HKMA issues guidance on AML and CFT risk management practices in response to COVID-19

This includes updated guidance on remote on-boarding, simplified due diligence, COVID-19 financial crime risks and ongoing support from the HKMA.

Read the article by Etelka Bogardi and Amu Chung (HK) here.