Compliance Committee Colleagues:

Happy New Year to you and to your families and welcome to the inaugural edition of the electronic newsletter from the Committee on Corporate Compliance, edited by Paul McGreal, Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University School of Law. We are pleased to bring you this initial issue, which will be published at least once a year, and we hope that it will become a useful resource for you.

This electronic communication tool should be both informative and interactive. It will have substantive articles on compliance issues; updates on programs at the spring and annual meetings, along with any special meetings; current awareness materials; and links to other relevant sites. The newsletter will also have profiles of our committee leaders and our committee members. We want you to be active and involved in developing and sharing information about the Corporate Compliance Committee, so please submit articles or ideas to Paul or to me via email.


2009 Spring Meeting

Coming up in the spring are timely and informative events planned for Canada and China. The annual Section of Business Law Spring Meeting will be in Vancouver, British Columbia from April 16 -18, 2009. Corporate Compliance is presenting or co-sponsoring three programs at this meeting:

1. On Friday, April 17th, at 8:00 AM, we will present "What Do the Newly Implemented Corporate Prosecution Principles Mean for Compliance and Internal Investigations?" chaired by Jim Lord, co-chair of our Internal Investigations subcommittee.
2. Later in the morning, on Friday, April 17th at 10:30 AM, we will present: "Global Business Confidential - Data Privacy Issues in Cross-Border Investigations and Litigation," chaired by David Axelrod, co-chair of our Records Retention & Electronically Stored Information subcommittee.
3. On Friday, April 17th, at 8:00 AM, we will co-sponsor, with the White Collar Crime Committee, "Aftermath of the Financial Meltdown - Analyzing Future Litigation and Compliance Issues" chaired by Michael E. Clark.

1. June 11th, from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m., "The Development and Implementation of the APEC Privacy Framework - Implications for Business Counsel"
   Committees on Cyberspace Law, Corporate Compliance, Consumer Financial Services & Corporate Counsel
   Program Chairs: Christina Kunz and Michael R. Clarke
   
   A number of different so-called "Fair Information Practice Principles" attempt to regulate or otherwise control the use, control and cross-border flow of protected personal information. Still, many international businesses are frustrated with the various schemes as being uncoordinated and too difficult to implement. APEC's Privacy Framework is intended to promote a flexible approach to information privacy protection, seeking both accountability and prevention of impediments to trade. The U.S. government supports the APEC approach, yet many businesses are unfamiliar with the Framework or how it compares to other systems such as the EU Data Protection Directive Principles
2. June 12th, from 8:30 - 10:30 a.m., "21st Century Compliance: The Age of AML, The Gatekeeper Initiative, FCPA and other Global Anti-Corruption Efforts"
   Committees on Corporate Compliance and Banking Law
   Program Chairs: Frank Razzano, Michael Clarke, Martin Lybecker
   
   This presentation will address the challenges corporations face in complying with both U.S. and international anti-corruption laws and the enforcement initiatives of the United States, European and Asian governments when addressing sales, investment, merger or joint venture activities.It will include discussion of numerous cross-border governmental initiatives, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other international anti-corruption efforts; the Anti Money Laundering statute and the Gatekeeper Initiative.

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Throughout its history the United States has been regarded as a bastion of individual rights and a beacon for the Western world, making it ironic that citizens of the European Union (EU) today enjoy significantly greater protection than U.S. citizens of the sanctity of their personal data. Europeans' elevated sensitivity to this issue may be attributable to experiences with abuses of personal information by fascist and communist governments. Regardless, it can create enormous headaches for U.S. companies. While protecting their own citizens, EU data protection laws can become inimical to the interests of U.S. companies by, among other things, interfering with their ability to respond to demands for information by U.S. authorities, and to conduct cross-border investigations of suspected misconduct. In turn, this may prevent such companies from cooperating with the U.S. government in the manner Eastern European countries that most recently joined the EU.


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