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In the recent decision of Goh Ngak Eng v Public Prosecutor [2022] SGHC 254, the Singapore High Court declined to employ the existing sentencing framework for private sector corruption offences involving agents under section 6 of the PCA as set out in Takaaki Masui v. Public Prosecutor and another appeal and other matters [2021] 4 SLR 160.
Section 6 of the PCA criminalizes the actions of agents who corruptly receive or give gratification as an inducement or reward for performing or withholding performance in relation to their principal’s affairs or business.
In developing a new framework, the High Court cautioned that the sentencing exercise is not meant to be seen as a mathematical equation; sentencing frameworks are only meant to serve as guides and should not be used to produce a mathematically precise formula that identifies a precise point for the sentencing court to arrive at in each case.

The German Bundestag passed the German Whistleblower Protection Act on 16 December 2022. After initially not being expected to be passed this year, the bill did make it onto the agenda of the last session day of the year at short notice and was passed in a version amended by the Legal Affairs Committee (Rechtsausschuss) with the coalition’s majority. The next step is for the Bundesrat to approve the bill. However, this is not expected until the first plenary session in February 2023 at the earliest.

US agencies such as the SEC, the CFTC and the FTC have extensive enforcement powers to seek significant financial penalties and limit or otherwise affect conduct through court injunctions or administrative orders. Companies and executives under investigation and threatened with enforcement actions by these agencies often choose to settle rather than litigate. Historically, from as cost-benefit analysis, settlement is preferable to the cost of litigation and the long term risks of extensive fights with agencies that would continue to be their regulators.

On 24 November 2022, Decree No. 67,301/2022 was published by the government of the state of São Paulo and provided for the administrative liability of legal entities for the practice of acts against the public administration in the city. The decree, which came into effect on the date of its publication, establishes the competence to judge administrative infractions and sets the jurisdictional authority to initiate an Administrative Liability Proceeding and the procedural norms for its execution.

On 19 November 2022, Canada announced amendments to the Special Economic Measures (Haiti) Regulations in response to the “egregious conduct of Haitian political elites who provide illicit financial and operational support to armed gangs”. These amendments list an additional three individuals under the Schedule of the Regulations and took effect on 17 November 2022.

In June 2022, Glencore, one of the world’s largest commodity traders, pleaded guilty to paying bribes to officials in three West African countries and for failing to prevent agents and employees from doing so in two other African countries. On 3 November 2022, Glencore was sentenced and ordered to pay a record amount of GBP 281 million (consisting of a GBP 182.9 million fine, a GBP 93.5 million confiscation order and GBP 4.5 million in respect of the Serious Fraud Office’s costs).

Please join us for a weekly series, hosted by Baker McKenzie’s North America Government Enforcement partners Jeffrey Martino and Jerome Tomas.
This weekly briefing is available on demand and will cover hot topics and current enforcement actions related to white collar crime and criminal investigations in the US and abroad to arm you with the information you need for your business week.
This week’s discussion covers Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s memorandum revising Federal Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policies.

On 15 September 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco issued a memorandum to Department of Justice prosecutors entitled “Further Revisions to Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policies Following Discussions with Corporate Crime Advisory Group”. As has become common in recent years (with a brief intermission under Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who objected to the practice), such memoranda and other Department pronouncements have come to herald key developments in DOJ policy on corporate criminal enforcement and related practice. These memoranda are therefore closely watched by the defense bar and corporate counsel alike.