Business leaders and their companies continue to face an array of enforcement risks in 2014. To help mitigate risk, businesses can, first, stay abreast of government enforcement priorities; second, take reasonable and efficient steps to police their own activities so as to contain potential enforcement issues; and third, when presented with such issues, take swift action to obtain the relevant facts.
Past is prologue as to government enforcement priorities, but recognition that developing events can overtake them is important. For example, LIBOR and other rate-setting benchmarks existed in plain view for a considerable time. However, when these processes came under close scrutiny, a major international enforcement effort ensued. The same may be happening now as to the use of currency exchange rates. But even when new enforcement priorities such as these do arise, the enforcement machine also continues predictably grinding forward based on past priorities.
