Category Archives: !Topics

Alerts, Anti-Corruption & Bribery, International Trends in White Collar Enforcement, United States

What happens in Vegas…SEC investigates Sands Hotel and Casino

In 2006 through to at least 2011, the Las Vegas Sands hotel and casino corporation transferred funds totaling more than $62 million to a “consultant” in China to promote their interests.

Lacking supporting documentation for appropriate authorization and identity, the money trail raised a red flag for the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the United States. This led to an investigation under the authority of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), as well as an investigation carried out by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), since the Sands is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Since the Sands management could not account for the funds transferred to the consultant, bribery was inferred. This lack of controls extended to other transactions, including gifts and entertainment to foreign officials, employee and vendor expense reimbursement, and customer complimentary services.

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Alerts, Anti-Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing, Canada

FINTRAC fines Canadian bank with no name a fistful of dollars

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), the federal agency responsible for the detection, prevention and deterrence of money laundering and terrorist financing, has, for the first time, imposed an administrative monetary penalty on a Canadian bank. The penalty of more than $1.1-million comes at a time of increased scrutiny of Canadian financial institutions and financial transactional crime as a result of the publication of the Panama Papers.

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Analysis, Canada, Capital Markets Fraud & Insider Trading

Can the OSC sharpen its teeth and take a bite out of enforcement, or lack thereof?

The enforcement efforts of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the regulator that administers and enforces compliance with the provisions of the Securities Act (Ontario) and the Commodity Futures Act (Ontario), have had mixed success— at best. With a mandate to protect investors and ensure fair and efficient capital markets through monitoring compliance and enforcement measures in the securities industry in Ontario, the regulatory body has been struggling to be taken seriously. Having taken a chapter from the playbook of the American national Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), prosecuting individuals for Insider trading, tipping, and securities fraud, the initial results, which are highlighted below, were underwhelming. Now, in a renewed effort to assert its presence in the capital markets as a regulator with teeth, the OSC is taking new approaches, with more promising results.

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Africa, Alerts, Anti-Corruption & Bribery, Canada, Europe, International Trends in White Collar Enforcement, Latin America, Sentencing & Deferred Prosecution Agreements

Managing Local and International Criminal Law Risk for Mining Companies

Despite internal safe guards and the best efforts of mining companies and their executives, criminal investigations can arise in relation to operations at home or abroad.  How a company responds to a criminal investigation or to possible internal criminal misconduct, can have a serious legal and reputational impact, particularly since changes to Canadian law have made it easier for prosecutors to convict corporations and their officers of criminal wrongdoing.  Today at Fasken Martineau’s PDAC 2016 seminar, Peter Mantas and Norm Keith of Fasken Martineau and Sandy Boucher of Grant Thornton discussed how proactive a mining company should be during the critical period after suspected criminal wrongdoing is discovered.

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Africa, Analysis, International Trends in White Collar Enforcement

White Collar Crime in South Africa

Although white collar crime is a worldwide phenomenon, in South Africa it tends to stand out as being particularly prevalent. White collar crime is a growing menace to businesses in and around South Africa. More and more senior managers are being involved in fraudulent schemes and activities. In addition, the sophistication and complexity in the way white collar crimes are carried out are on the rise.

One of the major catalysts of white collar crime in South Africa is that the perpetrators know that they are unlikely to be caught. The lack of investigation and prosecution is a concern to businesses in South Africa. How much protection will they receive if they do fall victim to white collar crime? Investigators of white collar crime attempt to put together dockets, with their attorneys’ assistance, which are then submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority. However, there is a lack of resources to facilitate prosecuting services in dealing with such complex crimes.

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