On April 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of 10 Venezuelan individuals for conspiring to violate the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (“IEEPA”). According to the DOJ, the individuals conspired to decade U.S. sanctions imposed on Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (“PDVSA”) in January 2019. In April 2024, one of the defendants was arrested upon arrival at Miami’s internal Airport.  The Violations According to the indictment, between January 2019 and December 2021, the defendants orchestrated an illegal scheme to buy U.S. origin aircraft parts to servic ..read more

In the absence of federal cybersecurity and data privacy laws, companies have to look to other sources of guidance, including industry standards, and state laws.  The National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) has sought to fill some of the large gaps on the issue of cybersecurity.  Enforcement agencies often cite the NIST Framework as an important barometer of an organization’s commitment to cybersecurity risks and mitigation. Recently, on February 26, 2024, the NIST released a new 2.0 Cybersecurity Framework for assessing cybersecurity maturity and managing cybersecur ..read more

On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published an interim final rule (“IFR”) that officially codifies certain changes to the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) precipitated by the United States’ participation in the Australia, United Kingdom, and United States (“AUKUS”) Trilateral Security Partnership. Announced in September 2021, AUKUS is intended to enhance the overall defense capabilities of each participating government by easing restrictions related to information and technology sharing, fostering “deeper integration of ..read more

By: Daniela Melendez, Associate at The Volkov Law Group, and Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Compliance Manager. Daniela can be reached at dmelendez@volkovlaw.com and Alex can be reached out at acotoia@volkovlaw.com. On April 15, 2024 Nicole Argentieri, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and the Head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ’s”) Criminal Division, announced a new voluntary self-disclosure program for individuals complicit in certain types of organized criminal activity. Under the pilot program, culpable individuals are entitled to leverage the benefits of a non-prosecuti ..read more

El 17 de abril de 2024, la OFAC revocó formalmente el alivio de sanciones que anteriormente había proporcionado a la industria petrolera y de gas en Venezuela. Mediante la licencia 44 la OFAC había proporcionado un alivio de sanciones a Venezuela en condición de que el gobierno de Venezuela organizara unas elecciones libres y justas. Debido al incumplimiento del gobierno de Venezuela, la OFAC revocó la Licencia 44 mediante la Licencia 44A.   Esta nueva licencia elimina completamente la autorización de la licencia anterior, lo que significa que hay restricciones para hacer negocios c ..read more

LRN continues to set the standard for ethics and compliance program research.  Volkov Law is  a supporter of, and advocate for, LRN’s research because it has consistently confirmed what we all know and believe — ethical companies perform better in the marketplace over the long run.  It is an intuitive fact that employees respond better to values-based leadership than a rules-based environment and culture.  Volkov Law is committed to that mission with our clients, colleagues, partners, and thought leadership.  In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the latest LRN Repo ..read more

On April 17, 2024, OFAC formally rolled back the sanctions relief it previously provided to the Venezuelan oil and gas industry.  While OFAC provided the initial relief believing that Venezuela would permit a fair and open election, it appears that the Maduro regime has fallen short of its commitments.  As such, and as part of its agreement with the beleaguered South American nation, OFAC has lifted its most significant element of the sanctions relief.  To effectuate this rollback, OFAC has replaced General License 44 with a new General License 44A.  This new license compl ..read more

Webinar: Effective Strategies to Handle Whistleblower Complaints May 21, 2024, 12 Noon EST Sign Up HERE Whistleblower reporting is a real and pervasive threat to companies. The Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory agencies offer financial rewards to potential whistleblowers. This new incentive structure poses real risks for companies that whistleblowers may skip internal reporting and present concerns to fedferal prosecutors as a first step. In those cases where a whistleblower/employee reports internally, companies have to apply best practices in re ..read more

NAVEX continues to produce high-quality compliance reports, many of which are a must-read in the compliance industry.  Its annual Whistleblower Report is of particular note — NAVEX is the leading provider of hotline services in the world and its data is invaluable as a source of trends in this industry. This year –2024 — is no exception.  NAVEX combed through the data from 3784 organizations for 2023.  Its headline conclusion — 2023 was a busy year, a record level of use and the substantiation rate reached an eleven-year high. More reports came in and more were found true. Such ..read more

Remarks given by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Undersecretary Alan Estevez during the 2024 Policy Update Conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) emphasized the need for organizations to enhance their due diligence efforts to prevent the diversion of restricted commodities to U.S. adversaries, including, but not limited to, the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Noting that traditional, more limited due diligence was no longer sufficient in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment, Undersecretary ..read more