fined – Reinhard von Hennigs website

Why Did Deutsche Bank Settle for $125 Million

Who agreed to settle for $125 million? Deutsche Bank just agreed in a settlement between the Department of Justice as well as the SEC to pay $125 million for irregularities in trading transactions. Because it ended in a settlement, the Depart of Justice will not criminally prosecute key executives. The statement from Deutsche Bank states that while they are not commenting on anything, there were some events that happened between 2008 and 2017 that are now subject to internal scrutiny.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act comes to my mind in regards to this situation. This is also the act that was raised by the US authorities while looking into Deutsche Bank. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act means that activities which are related to bribery can be enforced inside the United States, even if the alleged activity happened outside of the US. My takeaway for businesses is short and sweet. Make sure that your foreign entities which could potentially be doing briberies, are no longer doing briberies. If they are, your US entity could be paying a high price for that. US enforcement of US laws all over the world, is done through the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

#332, January 2021, Deutsche Bank, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, settlement, SEC, Department of Justice.

Distilleries Fined for Making Hand Sanitizer

Would you like to pay a $14,060 fine? Probably now, but a $14,060 fine is being imposed on many distilleries who are creating spirits, not for consumption, but for sanitation purposes. Because of the pandemic, many companies have switched their business model to make products that are more needed during a pandemic. This is partially to stay in business, and partially to do something good for their communities, but also, partially because they had the knowhow. How difficult would it be for a distillery to make hand sanitizer? At least that’s what they thought. Now hundreds, if not thousands of United States based distilleries are being subject to a failure to file certain paperwork with the FDA.

Hand sanitizer is considered to be something that is regulated, therefore they need the proper governmental approval. Many distillery operators didn’t know this and are facing FDA fines. The bad news is that many of those distilleries gave their hand sanitizer away for free as their way to help the community, and now they are being fined for it. To me, punishing them now doesn’t seem fair. I will keep you posted if I see more information on this topic. My takeaway from this is that if you are changing your business model for any reason, make sure that you don’t need any regulatory approval or subject to certain processing applications, or whatever else comes with switching your business model.

#331, January 2021, hand sanitizer, distillery, fine, regulations, business model.