Oil executives had “friends in high places” in Iraq, court hears

Unaoil employees paid for flights, hotels and shopping trips for senior officials at an Iraqi state-owned oil company to build “a formidable team of friends in high places”, a jury has heard.

Ex-HSBC trader headed to Supreme Court over fraud conviction

HSBC’s former head of global forex trading in New York has said he intends to take his appeal against a conviction over a multibillion-dollar frontrunning scheme to the US Supreme Court.

GIR 40 under 40: deadline extended

The deadline for GIR 40 under 40 submissions has been extended to 31 January.

Former Brexit secretary lashes out at Lynch extradition request

British MP David Davis has decried US attempts to extradite former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch, calling for an overhaul of “dreadful” existing extradition arrangements between the UK and the US.
ENRC denies harassing Dechert white-collar head

ENRC has said a spying operation focused on its former lawyer was a legitimate probe into “extremely serious wrongdoing”.
Unaoil paid $6 million in bribes to profit from Iraq oil project, court hears

Former Unaoil and SBM Offshore executives corrupted a competitive tender process for $800 million in contracts that were part of an effort to resurrect Iraq’s oil industry, a prosecutor has said.

Restitution fight delays Och-Ziff DPA

A restitution battle has forced hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management and the US Department of Justice to request an extension to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement.

Blank Rome nets Vinson & Elkins partner

William Lawler, a former Vinson & Elkins partner, has joined Blank Rome in the firm’s white-collar defence and investigation group in Washington, DC.

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Canada yet to develop appetite for sanctions cases

Canada has active sanctions on more countries than the US but unlike its southern neighbour appears to have made little effort to enforce them.

Akin Gump registers to lobby for ZTE

Chinese phone parts manufacturer ZTE has retained Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to “educate” the US government about its improved sanctions compliance.

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Comment & analysis

Multinational companies overlook Canada’s foreign corruption law at their peril

Despite increased attention on the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act in Canada, multinational companies with a Canadian footprint still tend to focus almost exclusively on the FCPA when assessing their foreign corruption law risk. Partner Graeme Hamilton and senior associate Omar Madhany at Borden Ladner Gervais in Toronto explain the critical differences that these companies should take into account.

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