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Expanded Criminal Enforcement in the Financial-Services Industry
Since the economic meltdown began in 2008, the media have waged a relentless attack on the financial industry as the greedy culprit. “So where are all the prosecutions that we were promised?” the white-collar bar has wondered. One answer is that the toxic financial instruments are too complex, and the requisite mens rea too elusive, for prosecutors to tell a compelling David v. Goliath story.
Case in point, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the SEC recently announced they would not prosecute the AIG executives allegedly responsible for nearly bringing down the entire banking system with hundreds of billions of dollars of contingent deferred swaps (read “insurance”) written for collateralized debt obligations. Meanwhile, the DOJ took a big hit with the acquittal of two Bear Stearns executives last year in the first trial resulting from the meltdown. The case was premised on a loss of $1.6 billion when funds collapsed that were heavily invested in mortgage-backed securities.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.