For close to a decade, business headlines have foretold the coming of a new regulatory behemoth under the non-threatening heading of ESG. Standing simply for environment, social, and governance, the acronym refers to new non-financial rules that many businesses will be required to follow. It is likely to be the biggest update to commercial regulation… Read More
Photo Credit: Wikipedia via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flags_south_america.png What makes the Odebrecht case so special? In December 2016, Brazil’s biggest construction company Odebrecht and its petrochemical subsidiary Braskem agreed to pay at least $3.5 billion to Brazilian, US, and Swiss authorities in a multi-country Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) settlement. Aside from this record-breaking settlement, the Odebrecht case… Read More
Photo Credit: Flickr In 2015, the world watched in horror as ISIS militants seized and then proceeded to destroy the ancient Syrian site of Palmyra. These cultural heritage crimes did not stop with the destruction of symbolic and historical structures. ISIS soon engaged in vast looting of antiquities, which helps line the group’s coffers. In… Read More