For some time now I have wanted to write about who I read
and why, so in honor of April 15, I thought it might be a good idea to list 15
favorite blog sites. Below is a list of my favorites and as this blog provides
my spin on all things related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arena
here we go...
The First Blog I Read Each Day
FCPA Blog/FCPA Professor - I know I said "the" first but
it is always one of these two, depending on how early in the morning it is and
where the mouse pointer ends up when I make the first click. But regardless of
which I read first, here is why they are the first.
FCPA Blog -
Richard Cassin is the 'Dean' of FCPA bloggers. If you want to know what is
going on in the FCPA, or wider compliance world on a once, twice or thrice
times daily basis, this is the blog for you. In addition to Dick's own posts,
he gets the crème-de-la-crème of the world's anti-bribery and anti-corruption
writers to send in posts. If the FCPA Blog didn't exist, someone would have to
create it and fortunately for us Dick has done so.
FCPA
Professor - Professor Mike Koehler on all things
'legal' in the FCPA world. If you want to know the latest Department of Justice
(DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), federal court or anything else
FCPA-thinking, from the law perspective, this is the blog for you. Always
insightful, and provocative, if you want to hone your Socratic method, parry
and thrust via email with the Professor. I guarantee you will learn quite a
bit, I know I have.
After I get through these I tweet about them so everyone
else can enjoy their collective wit and wisdom then it's off to the following
sites...
Corporate Compliance
Insights - A collection of all things compliance,
with a starting rotation and bullpen of great authors and contributors. But
more than simply blogs, it has job postings, career advice and a broad list of
resources for the compliance practitioner. And here's the best part-it's all
free. Maurice Gilbert and his team have put together an outstanding compliance
resource.
Open
Air Blog - How can one best describe Howard Sklar's
blogging; withering, skewering, contrarian; he describes himself as "a crusty,
irascible curmudgeon." Here's how I would describe Howard - one of the best
compliance practitioners and commentators around. His insights are great and he
uses the right touch of humor and real-world examples to get his point across.
His blog is great and a ton of fun to read so saddle up and enjoy the
(compliance) ride.
Corruptions
Currents - From the Wall Street Journal, Sam
Rubenfeld and Joe Palazzollo blog all-day on all things related to the
anti-corruption world; FCPA, AML, Whistleblowers, Sanctions and General
Anti-Corruption are all covered in this blog. Both journalists were jointly named
by Ethisphere as one of the 100 most influential folks in the anti-corruption
world. Great coverage, great insight AND it's from the Wall Street Journal.
From across the pond...
thebriberyact.com -
If you only have one resource for all things UK Bribery Act related, you could
not find a better site. Barry Vitou and Richard Kovalevsky have put together
that rarest of all blog sites, one that covers an entire subject in-depth, with
both practical insight and analysis. Their interviews of the relevant players
allow all compliance practitioners to develop insight into what the top UK
regulatory officials are thinking about on the Bribery Act.
From North of the Border...
i-sight investigation
blog - Lindsey Khan provides excellent insight on
a wide variety of compliance topics. As with most advice we Americans receive
from our Canadian cousins, her blogging is direct with practical guidance on
how to navigate compliance challenges. She often provides Templates with her
blogging to give you specific guidance on the 'how to' of compliance. So get
thee to the Great White North and check out i-sight.com
The
Business Ethics Blog - Chris MacDonald teaches
Philosophy, including business ethics, at Saint Mary's University and
fortunately for the rest of us, he blogs. If you believe either "a) that
corporations have a god-given right to accumulate as much capital as possible
without regard for who gets hurt along the way; or b) that all corporations,
and all people who work for them, are inherently evil, you will probably be
irritated by [his] blog." However, the rest of us can learn quite a bit from
this thought provoking blog.
For Export Control...
International
Trade Law News - My favorite site for all things trade
compliance. Fellow UT Longhorn Doug Jacobsen has put together a great site for
export controls, sanctions, customs law, FCPA, antidumping and other
international trade issues. He touches on the FCPA from time-to-time but he is
"The Man" for me to catch up with all issues relating to export control.
Subscription Required -
Sorry but you have to pay to read these great blogs...
Compliance Week Blogs -
Matt Kelly has put together a plethora of all-star bloggers for his publication
Compliance Week. Bruce Carton on the SEC; Melissa Aguilar on Regulatory
Developments; Tammy Whitehouse on Accounting and Auditing; Neil Baker with his
Global Perspectives; Jaclyn Jaeger with the Scuttlebutt and the Man, Matt Kelly
himself. Any of these bloggers would be worth a solo listing but to have them
on one site is fantastic.
JustAnti-Corruption -
Editor Mary Jacoby and Reporter Chris Matthews blog throughout the day on
anti-corruption and anti-bribery issues from a DC perspective. Both are great
journalists and both have first-class sources. It puts information to us out in
the provinces (as in 'Outside the Beltway') on what the DOJ is doing and
thinking on all things FCPA.
Aggregators-they
put it all together for you.
MyCorporateResouce-Nick
Montgomery is the hardest working man I know of in the blogosphere world. He
manages to post literally hundreds of blogs each day, all focused for the
in-house corporate lawyer. He has a specific FCPA site, which is found in the Client Memos,
International Trade Sub Menu, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He posts blogs
from Blue Chip law firms so the information is well, blue chip. It is a
fabulous resource for all things an in-house counsel would need to know and a
wonderful FCPA resource.
Law Agents-this
site announces that "With over 1,400 subscriptions by users, lawgents.com is
the internet's largest free law related news and blog aggregator." How is that
for an opening line. Best of all, its free and you can join, post or just use
as a resource.
New Kids on the Block -
Note I didn't say young but these two guys have recently started blogging and
from what I know of them, their stuff will be high quality.
Internal
Investigations Blog - Cleveland attorney Jim McGrath
focuses on all aspects of investigations relating to anti-corruption,
anti-bribery, corporate fraud and employee-related theft. His blog is broader
than simply the FCPA but just imagine the results of L'Affaire Renault
if that company had read Jim's blog before firing the soon to be
multi-millionaire ex-employees.
White
Collar Defense and Compliance - and finally... Mike Volkov
has started up his own blog. For anyone who has heard Mike speak or read any of
his Client Alerts you know this guy knows his stuff. I often wonder how he puts
out so much material and manages to practice law, but he does and we, and the
greater compliance world, are better for it. So check him out, as in now.
So that is my 15 'faves' list. If you are not on it,
please don't take it personally, I'm sure that I read your blog and tweet about
you.
So while you sit and contemplate my 15 favorites remember its April 15th and if
you haven't done your taxes yet...get that extension filed...
Visit the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog,
hosted by Thomas Fox, for more commentary on FCPA compliance, indemnities and
other forms of risk management for a worldwide energy practice, tax issues
faced by multi-national US companies, insurance coverage issues and protection
of trade secrets.
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© Thomas R. Fox, 2011
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