Event 14 Oct. 2022
Curtis Provides Capacity Training to the Government of Uganda
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Event 21 Sep. 2022
Kalidou Gadio Speaks at AIEN 2022 International Energy Summit
News 16 Dec. 2022
Curtis Trade Team is top ranked in Chambers Asia-Pacific 2023
Event 06 Dec. 2022
George Kahale Lectures on "Key Issues Facing States in ISDS" at Rashtriya Raksha University
News 27 Jan. 2023
Curtis Italy wins Law Firm of the Year for Arbitration/Energy 2023 at national Italian legal awards
News 09 Dec. 2022
Six Curtis Partners Recognized in Who's Who Legal - Arbitration
Event 22 Nov. 2022
Elisa Botero and Fernando Tupa to speak at the XVI International Congress of Arbitration in Lima, Perú
Event 02 Nov. 2022
Claudia Frutos-Peterson Speaks at the Universidad Externado de Colombia’s 6th Conference on National and International Arbitration
News 27 Sep. 2022
Curtis Boosts Riyadh Office with New Corporate Partner Stuart Davies
News 16 Aug. 2022
Curtis Delivers More Firsts for the Government of Oman in its Defense Against U.S. Trade Measures
Event 08 Nov. 2022
Simon Batifort and Andrew Larkin Speak at the 2022 ASIL Midyear Meeting
Client Alert 30 Aug. 2022
The EU Adopts the “Maintenance and Alignment” Sanctions Package
Client Alert 20 Jul. 2022
The EU Undertakes Fundamental Reform of the Legal Basis for Sanctions Enforcement
Client Alert 24 Jun. 2021
Update on Virtual Notarization (Executive Order 202.7) During the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic (Updated: June 24, 2021) — U.S. Insight
Update on Virtual Witnessing (New York Executive Order 202.14) During The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic (Updated: June 24, 2021) — U.S. Insight
Client Alert 21 Apr. 2022
Click here to download the full alert
On March 2, 2022, “Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced the launch of Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.” The task force’s mission will include:
Task Force KleptoCapture will operate out of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, but will also include agents and analysts from numerous law enforcement agencies.
On March 16, 2022, the Treasury Department announced the launch of the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Program(“KARRA”). The program, created pursuant to the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Act, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, “with the concurrence of the Secretary of State and the Attorney General,” to pay whistleblowers up to $5 million for information leading to the restraining, seizure, forfeiture, or repatriation of stolen funds “linked to foreign government corruption and the proceeds of that corruption” held at a financial institution in the United States (including the US branch of a foreign financial institution) or that come within the possession or control of any U.S. person. The law defines “foreign government corruption” to mean corruption under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. Under KARRA the payments, in the aggregate, must amount to less than the total amount of stolen assets recovered through the program during the fiscal year, and not exceed $25 million in any calendar year.
These caps on recovery mean that a whistleblower’s reward can be limited to only a small share of the assets recovered. In that way, KARRA differs from other whistleblower programs, like the whistleblower programs offered by the IRS, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, the SEC, and the CFTC, where rewards are calculated as a proportional share of the recovered assets. Where large sums are recovered, those programs often offer higher rewards to whistleblowers than would KARRA. For example, the SEC has recently announced rewards of approximately $14 million and $13 million to individuals, and $40 million to two whistleblowers, with one individual receiving approximately $32 million. Similarly, on October 21, 2021, the CFTC announced a reward of approximately $200 million to an individual whistleblower under its program.
Moreover, unlike other programs, under KARRA, rewards may be reduced or refused where “the Secretary has a reasonable basis to believe” that the whistleblower “planned, initiated, directly participated in, or facilitated” the illegal conduct. However, just as in other programs, KARRA makes whistleblowers completely ineligible for rewards if they are convicted of criminal conduct arising from their planning, initiating, directly participating in, or facilitating the illegal conduct.
Finally, KARRA provides only generalized protections for whistleblowers authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to “take such measures in connection with the payment of the reward as the Secretary considers necessary to effect . . . protection” of the whistleblower and his or her family. Other programs offer specific, particularized protections to whistleblowers.
In sum, KARRA presents a new tool for the recovery of stolen assets and an opportunity for putative whistleblowers who should be aware of KARRA’s parameters and those of other programs under existing law.
Economic Sanctions
Nicoleta Timofti
Partner
Jonathan J. Walsh
New York
+1 212 696 6000
Geneva
+41 22 718 3500
News 18 Jan. 2023
Simon Batifort and Andrew Larkin Publish “The Meaning of Silence in Investment Treaties” in the ICSID Review
Event 13 Dec. 2022
Charlie Howland Joins Biden Administration Officials to Speak to the EPA Alumnae Association about the Role of Private Capital in Implementing the Renewable Energy Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act
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