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    Jun. 4, 2025

SFO Co‑Operation Guidance: Investigation Expectations

When the SFO recently announced new guidance on how companies can avoid prosecution, much of the focus was on strongly encouraging self-disclosure of possible wrongdoing. However, in the SFO External Guidance on Corporate Co‑Operation and Enforcement in relation to Corporate Criminal Offending (2025 Guidance), the U.K. regulator also provided details on what it expects from companies in terms of cooperation during an investigation. This second article in a two-part series distills insights from London-based attorneys on how companies should think about cooperation credit. The first article examined the ways in which the 2025 Guidance encourages companies to self-report possible wrongdoing. See “2024 in Review: International Cooperation Continues to Drive ABAC Enforcement” (Dec. 18, 2024).

FCPA Compliance Is a Priority in the Golden State

In the last few months, the President of the United States and the California AG have issued dueling executive pronouncements staking out their positions on enforcement of the FCPA, and companies have been left flummoxed on how to respond. In this guest article, Manatt partners Randy Grossman and Kareem Salem, with associate Andrew Beshai, explain how the California AG is using California’s Unfair Competition Law framework to prosecute foreign bribes and the limitations of the AG’s authority. See “California Bribery Statutes’ Expansive Notion of ‘Official Acts’” (Jan. 29, 2025).

DOJ Guidance on Bulk Sensitive Data Rules: Compliance Program, Recordkeeping and Reporting

To assist companies in complying with its final rules implementing the executive order on Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern, the DOJ recently released three new guidance documents. The final rules, which the National Security Division of the DOJ refers to as the Data Security Program (DSP), took effect in substantial part on April 8, 2025. With commentary from Edward McNicholas, a partner at Ropes & Gray, this two-part article series highlights the key elements of the guidance. This second installment distills guidance on DSP requirements around the data compliance program, recordkeeping, reporting, licenses and advisory opinions. Part one covered the enforcement grace period, definitions of bulk data and covered persons, and prohibited transactions. See “Navigating Recent Changes to China’s Data Privacy Laws in Internal Investigations” (Jun. 5, 2024).

How to Avoid Surprises in FARA Registration Enforcement

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires registration for a wider range of U.S.-based activities than is realized, but it also provides a range of factors that can relieve U.S.-based people or organizations from having to register. The ramifications of the 1938 law came under the microscope in a recent BakerHostetler webinar. This article distills the insights shared during the presentation by partners Alexander Reid and Lee Casey. See our three-part series introducing FARA: “Definitions and Exemptions” (Mar. 3, 2021); “The New Risk Environment” (Mar. 17, 2021); and “Enforcement and Compliance” (Apr. 14, 2021).

How Companies Can Still Use the ECCP to Improve Their Compliance Analytics Programs

The edits to the DOJ’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP) that were announced in September 2024 can aid compliance professionals who are considering how to use data analytics in their work, even as a new administration shifts its enforcement priorities. This article, distilling insights shared by experts during a session at the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics Data Analytics for Compliance Programs conference, covers how to use the ECCP as a tool for assessing and improving data analytics in four critical areas of an ethics and compliance program: risk assessments, training, internal reporting and resourcing. See our three-part series on the DOJ’s 2024 edits to the ECCP: “Some History and AI Expectations” (Nov. 6, 2024), “Data Analytics to Find Risks and Measure Effectiveness” (Nov. 20, 2024), and “Speaking Up, Compliance Resources and Lessons Learned” (Dec. 4, 2024).

Investigations and Compliance Leader Rejoins King & Spalding

Patrick Murphy has returned to King & Spalding as a partner in its special matters and government investigations practice group in Washington, D.C. He arrives from Fresenius Medical Care, where he served as senior vice president and global head of litigation and investigations. See “German Medical Device Company Settles Allegations of Pervasive Global Bribery With SEC and DOJ” (Apr. 17, 2019).

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Women to Watch: Contributions, Achievements and Observations of Outstanding Female Professionals

To mark International Women’s Day, women editors and reporters at ION Analytics interviewed outstanding women in the industries and jurisdictions we cover. In this part, Law Report Group editors Jill Abitbol, Robin L. Barton and Megan Zwiebel profile notable women in data privacy, cybersecurity, private funds and anti-corruption law, including Anne-Gabrielle Haie, Jessica Lee, Micaela McMurrough, Laura Perkins, Amanda Raad, Madelyn Calabrese, Ranah Esmaili and Genna Garver. Enjoy reading their inspiring remarks here.