“The term “digital transformation” often gets thrown around in our ever-changing business environment. It’s a catch-all term that describes new and emerging digital technologies to improve business processes, achieve higher efficiencies, and satisfy customers.,” reports Devin Partida in Forbes.

“Most customers expect companies to have a strong digital presence through means such as social media platform posting, a website, and quality content. However, as digital technology becomes more widely used, it can open up businesses to compliance issues.”

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“Senior executives at USAA ignored warnings from compliance staff and consultants for years regarding multiple violations of U.S. federal banking laws and “intentionally” hid from regulators the scope of the company’s illegal practices, a former USAA compliance officer turned whistleblower told Compliance Week,” reports Jaclyn Jaeger in Compliance Week.

“The $225 million in combined civil penalties USAA has received, to date—$85 million in 2020 and $140 million in March—from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for compliance failures could portend more enforcement activity to come, the whistleblower suggested.”

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“In an effort to improve its cybersecurity posture, the Navy is moving away from the old compliance model to an ongoing readiness approach much in the way the service evaluates its forces and weapon systems,” reports Mark Pomerleau in FedScoop.

“Put bluntly, the Navy – and the Department of Defense writ large – have been taking the wrong approach, according to its chief information officer. “Today, I would argue that the way that we do cybersecurity at the Department of Navy … is wrong,” Aaron Weis said Tuesday during the Cloudera Government Forum, which was produced by FedScoop.”

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“To be an effective security, risk management or compliance leader, you need to advocate for your team’s needs and secure resources to improve cyber defense posture, mitigate risks and ensure compliance with industry standards. While securing the resources you need isn’t necessarily a difficult endeavor, you may not always know what steps are needed to get the outcome you want.,” reports Hyperproof in the Cyber Security Dive.

“Wondering how to get your top executives and other key stakeholders to align? Here is a set of five best practice activities compliance and security professionals need to take to get what they want.”

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“In January 2023, the Germany Supply Chain Due Diligence Act will come into effect, requiring businesses to monitor supply chains for human rights violations and compliance with environmental standards,” reports Steve Banker in Forbes.

“There has been supply chain legislation before whose goal was focused on making sure various aspects of ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) performance were enforced by companies. But, as Abigail Myers-Antiaye – the principal product compliance manager at Coupa – pointed out in a presentation at Coupa Inspire last week, supply chain practitioners have never seen compliance legislation that was so broad and impactful.”

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“Almost all companies have policies and regulatory requirements that their employees have to adhere to. Going against these requirements can attract fines, lawsuits, reputational damage, penalties, or even criminal charges. It is important for companies to make sure there is corporate and regulatory compliance from all members of staff to ensure the smooth running of operations,” reports Jason Ruiz in ELearning Inside.

“Corporate compliance allows organizations to carry out their business processes safely and effectively while following the policies that were developed during the organization’s founding. On the other hand, regulatory compliance makes sure employees obey the laws and follow the regulations set out by government bodies for companies in the sector in which such business operates..”

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“Interactive Brokers’ former chief compliance officer has been banned from the industry for two months by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) and handed a $25,000 fine for failing to properly oversee the international broker-dealer’s anti-money laundering program,” reports Daniel Gil in CityWire.

“The industry watchdog said that between January 2013 and August 2018, Arnold J. Feist failed in his duty to run an efficient program to combat money laundering at Interactive Brokers.”

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“Kaulkin Ginsberg Company has released the 10th version of its report on the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry. The Kaulkin Report, 2022 Edition combines the latest research data with informative interviews featuring ARM industry executives and other subject matter experts,” reports ACA International in their blog.

“It takes an in-depth look at the history and economic impact of the ARM industry, the various client markets that ARM companies serve, and the most important operational, technological, economic and compliance-related trends, according to a news release.”

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“Last year global mergers and acquitions (M&A) volume set a record at $5.9 trillion—a 28% increase from the previous full-year record in 2007. With M&A activity showing no sign of slowing, it’s essential that dealmakers add their risk and compliance (R&C) teams to the M&A table from the very start,” reports Sean Thompson in Forbes.

“To understand why, look no further than Microsoft’s much-buzzed-about acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which made headlines for Activision’s company culture just as much as the deal price.”

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“Policy and Medicine Compliance Update is our monthly compliance publication designed to help compliance professionals go in depth in issues and stay up to date on the latest trends.,” reports Thomas Sullivan in Policy & Medicine.

“Like 2019 and 2020 before it, 2021 was an extraordinarily busy year for life science compliance professionals.  Although a few new focus areas emerged, most critical developments aligned with previous trends from 2019 and 2020.”

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“Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives. Many advisors suffer from the misconception that as long as their intentions aren’t malicious, they’re in compliance. Sadly, this is not the case,” reports  Sol Hersh in Advisor Perspectives.

“To catch the small number of bad actors in the industry, the rest of us must abide by the often-complex industry regulations. Failing to remain in compliance will lead to deficiencies, fines, and even enforcement action. Here are the most common compliance concerns and how your firm can avoid them.”

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“Despite a backdrop of Covid-19 and gloomy worldwide economic predictions, the M&A scene has been smashing records across sectors like tech and infrastructure, which saw some of their strongest years yet. In October, KPMG predicted that global M&A activity could hit a record $6 trillion by the end of the year,” reports Yair Kuznitsov in Forbes.

“M&As of venture-backed companies, in particular, have been rapid-fire, set to outpace the previous three years ($91.9 billion). What’s clear is that 2021 will go down as an epic year that saw companies making up for 2020’s lost time and opportunities.”

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“Two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series (such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines), or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine,” report John A. Rubin, Natalie D. Fluker and Robert J. Simandl in The National Law Review.

“Individuals who do not meet these requirements are not considered fully vaccinated: They are still subject to the prior masking and social distancing requirements. The CDC stated that individuals with compromised immune systems still may not be fully protected after vaccination.”

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“The centrality of law as a public health intervention has been undeniable during the Covid-19 pandemic. In just the first half of 2020, more than 1000 laws and orders were issued by federal, state, and local authorities in the United States in an effort to reduce disease transmission,” discuss Scott Burris, J.D., Evan D. Anderson, J.D., Ph.D., and Alexander C. Wagenaar, M.S.W., Ph.D. in The New England Journal of Medicine’s Perspective.

“Legal interventions include stay-at-home orders, mask mandates, and travel restrictions, as well as more particular rules for business operations, alcohol sales, curfews, and health care. Given their heavy use, importance, and obvious socioeconomic side effects, and the social and behavioral complexities of their implementation, one might have expected the National Institutes of Health (NIH), other research funders, and the research community to jump to the work of determining the right mix, intensity, and enforcement approaches of legal restrictions to control transmission with the least and most equitably distributed harms.”

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“Armonk lawyer Laurieanne DeLitta has been disbarred and ordered to pay nearly $1.5 million, and possibly another $2.2 million, for stealing money from clients,” reports Bill Heltzel in Westchester & Fairfield County Business Journals’ Courts.

“DeLitta misappropriated funds and engaged in fraud, deceit and misrepresentation, according to a May 19 ruling by five justices of the Second Appellate Division.”

“DeLitta had responded to five complaints last November by asking to resign as an attorney, admitting that she cannot successfully defend herself against allegations of professional misconduct.”

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“Cybersecurity wasn’t necessarily a significant issue for in-house counsel 10-15 years ago. But now, companies have so many more obligations regarding information security and data privacy than they did even a decade ago,” writes Theodore F. Claypoole in The National Law Review.

“Initially, cybersecurity was an issue primarily for regulated companies. Then, companies with widespread consumer contact found themselves having to meet greater regulatory burdens. Today, though, cybersecurity is an issue for virtually every company, and it is important those efforts fit into a corporate compliance and ethics program.”

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“Lateral attorney transitions, particularly partner transitions, are often fraught with legal and ethical issues. While they are typically not as dramatic as the one described in Governo Law Firm v. Kendra Bergeron, et al., SJC-12948 (Mass. Supreme Judicial Court), the opinion, released from Massachusetts’ highest court on April 9, 2021, could have wide implications for how courts view law firm partners who engage in misconduct on their way out the door,” write Trisha M. Rich and Trisha in Thompson Holland & Knight’s Insights.

“The facts of the Governo case are worth examining in some detail. The Governo Law Firm (GLF) was a Massachusetts firm that specialized in asbestos defense litigation. Asbestos defense is generally paid for by cost-conscious insurance companies that consider a firm’s efficiency when determining which one to hire. GLF, during the course of two decades, created a “treasure trove” of proprietary materials that were an important marketing tool because of the efficiencies that they created. This trove consisted of three basic types of information: 1) a research library that was developed over 20 years and contained more than 10,000 documents related to asbestos litigation, including witness interviews, expert reports and investigative reports; 2) databases that organized the research material into categories sortable by multiple criteria, including by legal theory or client; and 3) certain administrative files that included office manuals, an employee handbook, marketing materials and client lists.”

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“A corporate litigant disputing the legal bill charged by Squire Patton Boggs has filed a third-party complaint alleging that LexisNexis helped the law firm inflate its fees,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Law Firms.

“… filed by the Armor Screen Corp. against the RELX Group, LexisNexis’ parent company. The suit alleges that LexisNexis charged Squire Patton Boggs a flat rate, but the law firm billed more than $100,000 for what appeared to be separate searches with the help of a LexisNexis product.”

“The product, called PowerInvoice, can be used to generate customized reports. The product was used “to construct sham bills,” according to the suit, filed in Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit.”

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“Massachusetts’ top court ruled Thursday that a Duane Morris litigation partner got off too easy when she was suspended for six months for overbilling clients at her prior law firm, saying her actions reflected manifest “dishonesty” and deserved a two-year suspension instead,” reports Reuters Legal in Thomas Reuters’ Westlaw Today.

“The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned a single justice’s decision to impose a six-month suspension on Doreen Zankowski, saying her billing practices while at Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr showed a “reckless indifference” to what her clients should be charged.”

“Justice David Lowy, writing for the 4-0 court, said that by all accounts, Zankowski had worked ‘exceptionally hard, was one of the firm’s highest revenue producers, and achieved excellent results for her clients.'”

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“In M&A transactions, the definitive purchase agreement (whether asset purchase agreement, stock purchase agreement, or merger agreement) typically contains representations, warranties, and covenants, along with related indemnification obligations,” writes Daniel R. Avery in Goulston & Storrs’ What’s Market blog.

“A common representation that the seller makes is that the target has operated its business in accordance with applicable laws (often referred to a “compliance with laws” representation). While sellers generally do not object to making a representation that addresses legal compliance, they usually seek to include certain limitations that narrow the representation’s scope.”

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