By Peter J. Eyre and Laura Baker on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceThe General Services Administration’s (GSA) System for Award Management (SAM) announced its role in an ongoing Inspector General Investigation into alleged, third party fraudulent activity in SAM. GSA suspects that the alleged fraudulent activity impacted only a limited number of entities. GSA has since notified the affected entities, and deactivated their SAM registrations. GSA also… Continue Reading
By David B. Robbins and Peter J. Eyre on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceThere is a substantial amount of confusion and concern about Section 1045 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), entitled “Prohibition on lobbying activities with respect to the Department of Defense by certain officers of the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department following separation from military service or employment with the Department.” … Continue Reading
By Lorraine M. Campos and Sarah Bartle on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn February 8, 2017, the Department of Justice Fraud Section posted a new guidance document on its website entitled, “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” (“Compliance Guidance”). This Compliance Guidance, comprised of a number of topics and questions, comes a little over a year after the Fraud Section hired Hui Chen as its resident compliance expert. … Continue Reading
By Robert Burton, Lorraine M. Campos, Peter J. Eyre, David J. Ginsberg and Elizabeth Buehler on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn Saturday, January 28, President Trump issued an Executive Order setting forth the ethics regulations governing current and future executive agency appointments, which is both more restrictive and less restrictive than the 2009 Obama Executive Order addressing the same issue. Specifically, and with respect to the former, President Trump’s order bans all executive agency appointees… Continue Reading
By Lorraine M. Campos, Gail D. Zirkelbach, Nkechi Kanu and Joelle Sires on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn November 18, 2016, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a final rule revising the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (“Standards”) applicable to the solicitation and acceptance of gifts from outside sources. See 5 CFR § 2635. The final rule imposes a duty to decline otherwise permissible gifts when… Continue Reading
By Peter J. Eyre and Agustin D. Orozco on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn November 2, 2016, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a final rule amending the regulations that set forth the elements and procedures of the executive branch ethics program by defining and describing the executive branch ethics program, delineating the responsibilities of various stakeholders, and enumerating key executive branch ethics procedures. The final rule… Continue Reading
By David B. Robbins and Peter J. Eyre on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceThere are always clues. After-action reviews nearly always identify signals that a crisis was about to begin. Small hints, tips, strange comments, or different attitudes from a customer. Something will be there. But these clues can be difficult to spot in the moment by busy in-house counsel or senior executives on the front lines of… Continue Reading
By Jason M. Crawford and Charles Baek on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn March 22, the comment period is set to close on a new rule proposed by the FAR Council titled, “Federal Acquisition Regulation: Contractor Employee Internal Confidentiality Agreements.” This rule will prohibit federal dollars from going to companies that require employees or subcontractors to sign restrictive confidentiality agreements that could limit the ability of employees… Continue Reading
By Ashley Bailey and Namrata Kotwani on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn November 27, 2015, the Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) issued a proposed rule that would revise the portions of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Executive Branch Employees that govern the solicitation and acceptance of gifts from outside sources (“Standards”). See 5 CFR § 2635. Although it is a proposed rule (with the comment… Continue Reading
By Peter J. Eyre, James G. Peyster and Rob Sneckenberg on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceThe Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General (IG) recently released a July 6, 2015 Memorandum announcing that it will “immediately” begin the field work for its assessment of DoD compliance with Section 847 of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), “Requirements for Senior Defense Officials Seeking Employment with Defense Contractors.” Section 847… Continue Reading
By Sharmistha Das on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn January 29, 2015, the FAR Council published a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to strengthen existing regulations against trafficking in persons. The new rule, which will be effective March 2, 2015, includes a variety of new compliance provisions that will impact government contractors of all shapes and sizes. The agencies first… Continue Reading
By David B. Robbins on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceThanks for all the positive feedback. Happy this has been a help. Reposting the compliance brief in response to several requests. Thanks for the interest. http://www.shulmanrogers.com/media/publication/170_GovCon%20Compliance%20Brief%20Fall%202014.pdf… Continue Reading
By David B. Robbins on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceEver had to deal with the Mandatory Disclosure Rule and its less-than-clear guidelines for what to report to the IG and CO? I’ve written an article for National Defense Magazine that looks at the stakeholders that analyze each mandatory disclosure, and discusses the impact disclosures have on these communities. http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2014/June/Pages/EmbracingMandatoryDisclosureCanSaveContractorsTime,TroubleandLegalFees.aspx… Continue Reading
By J. Catherine Kunz on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceThe start of a new year is a perfect opportunity for government contractors to refocus and rejuvenate their compliance efforts. Regardless of whether a company is contractually required to have a compliance program, contractors should take time to determine the contractual obligations and risks they face now and in the year ahead. Is your company… Continue Reading
By J. Catherine Kunz and Tiffany Wynn on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceAt 1:00 p.m. (Eastern) on October 18, 2012, Crowell & Moring attorneys Cathy Kunz, Richard Arnholt and Tiffany Wynn will conduct a webinar on behalf of L2 Federal Resources entitled “Business Ethics in Government Contracting: Legal Requirements & Best Practices for Compliance.” This 90-minute webinar will provide an overview of the requirements in FAR 52.203-13 for a… Continue Reading
By Peter J. Eyre on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn September 16, 2011, DoD issued a final rule that requires contractors to prominently display fraud hotline posters prepared by the DoD Office of the Inspector General. These posters must be displayed in common work areas within business segments performing work on DoD contracts. The current posters from the DoD IG can be found here and here.… Continue Reading
By Peter J. Eyre on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn September 13, 2011, the Office of Government Ethics proposed amendments to the regulation governing the acceptance of gifts by executive branch employees. The purpose of the amendments is to (a) implement the lobbyist gift ban already applicable, by Executive Order of the President, to most political appointees; and (b) impose limits on the use of… Continue Reading
By Crowell & Moring on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn July 8 the Department of Defense Standards of Conduct Office (SOCO) issued an update to the Encyclopedia of Ethical Failures (EEF), its listing of violations of federal ethics law by government and contractor personnel. The encyclopedia, which is organized by type of violations, including conflicts of interest, misuse of Government equipment, violations of post-employment… Continue Reading
