Month in a Minute: Developments in Anti-Corruption

Hughes Hubbard’s anti-corruption “Month in a Minute” offers a quick look-back at the biggest foreign corruption-related developments from the prior month. The Month in a Minute is intended to provide a quick snapshot of the latest news and developments. 

Monthly Newsletters

March 2024

Highlights from March 2024 include a guilty plea for Gunvor Group, a new DOJ whistleblower program, an indictment for a Stericycle executive, and a guilty plea for international commodities trader, Trafigura.

February 2024

Highlights from February 2024 include no criminal charges for a multinational insurance broker, cooperation credit for a Venezuelan citizen, a guilty plea by a former Stericycle VP, and a guilty verdict for former Vitol trader, Javier Aguilar.

January 2024

Highlights from January 2024 include the beginning of a trial for a former Vitol Trader, a coordinated FCPA resolution for German software company SAP SE, a new whistleblower program out of the Southern District of New York, and probation for a PDVSA-related defendant.

December 2023

Highlights from December 2023 include a new law tackling the demand-side of foreign bribery, a resolution to FCPA charges against a Connecticut trading company, a return of recovered 1MDB funds to Malaysia, and the deferral of a decision in a case related to the FIFA bribery scheme.

November 2023

Highlights from November 2023 include probation for a 1MDB conspirator, a corporate declination, DPAs for two FCPA violators, a Speedy Trial dismissal, and a new DOJ anti-bribery initiative.

October 2023

Highlights from October 2023 include a new M&A safe harbor policy from the DOJ, an extradition to Malaysia in the 1MDB saga, a denial of dismissal for two alleged PDVSA conspirators, a new chief of the DOJ’s foreign bribery unit, and a DOJ Opinion Procedure Release.

September 2023

Highlights from September 2023 include two corporate resolutions, acquittals for FIFA defendants, a sentence for a Canadian citizen involved in a bribery scheme, and charges against a Venezuelan intermediary. 

August 2023

Highlights from a busy August 2023 include a DOJ Opinion Procedure Release about sponsored travel of government officials, new charges against former Vitol trader Javier Aguilar in Texas, a jail-time sentence and forfeiture order for a former PDVSA director, the dismissal of charges against Airbus, two corporate resolutions of FCPA charges, and a new indictment related to bribery at Petrobras.

July 2023

July 2023 highlights included a renewed effort by Congress to potentially close a perceived gap in the scope of the FCPA, denials of motions to suppress certain evidence in two separate FCPA-related prosecutions, an important decision by a district judge in New Jersey regarding the implications of internal investigations conducted while cooperating with the government, a development in the ongoing 1MDB saga, and an expedited appeal of the dismissal of an FCPA case in the Fifth Circuit. Plus, Barbenheimer

June 2023

Welcome to this month’s installment of Hughes Hubbard’s anti-corruption “Month in a Minute,” which offers a quick look-back at the biggest foreign corruption-related developments from the prior month. June 2023 highlights included the dismissal of FCPA claims against a foreign citizen, developments regarding the DOJ’s corporate crime database, the sentencing of PDVSA’s former general counsel, and the DOJ’s success at severing a foreign bribery charge in its case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. 

May 2023

May 2023 highlights included court rulings and sentencings, a change at the top of the DOJ FCPA Unit, a massive SEC whistleblower award, and a couple of SEC corporate resolutions.