Paul O. Hirose Partner

There has been much attention focused on Beijing’s labor policies and practices toward the Uyghur Muslim population and other minority groups in China. Given that the western Xinjiang region is responsible for approximately one-fifth of the world’s cotton supply, many industry players are finding compliance issues a challenge.

In this episode, Paul Hirose, former president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and co-chair of Perkins Coie’s Supply Chain Compliance and Corporate Social Responsibility practice, speaks with Leyla Seka about her leadership in confronting gender equality and racial equity issues in the tech industry.

[Warning: The juxtaposition of joyous holiday festivities and forced labor is not intended to make light of human rights violations, but to assist companies in avoiding common mistakes in their anti-human trafficking disclosure statements.] 

The U.K. Modern Slavery Act of 2015, which was modeled after the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, requires companies falling under its jurisdictional hook (and there are many) to honestly and completely disclose their efforts to eradicate trafficked, slave, indentured, coerced and child (collectively “forced”) labor from their supply chains.

This article unearths a little-known U.K. Home Office tender announcement underscoring why and how companies falling under the U.K. Modern Slavery Act of 2015’s jurisdiction (and there are many) must get their supply chain disclosures ready for prime-time, lest they risk receiving a starring role on the U.K. Home Office’s contemplated “naming & shaming” list of non-compliant companies and be otherwise subjected to official enforcement actions.

In recent guidance, we wrote about what companies should do to minimize the risk of federal criminal penalties when doing business with or investing in cannabis industry companies.

In recent guidance, we wrote about what companies should do to minimize the risk of federal criminal penalties when doing business with or investing in cannabis industry companies. 

What is the current state of federal enforcement as to cannabis? Are there ways that companies not directly involved in the cannabis industry may still do business with companies in the industry, while minimizing potential exposure to federal criminal penalties under the CSA?

A version of this article was originally published by Bloomberg BNA White Collar Crime Report on April 18, 2018.

Imagine the public relations nightmare poor Santa Claus would face if forced labor or corruption was found in his factory.

The ABA Compliance Officer's Deskbook equips today's compliance professionals from private sector companies and organizations, nonprofits, hospitals, and all other entities whose funds and reputation might be jeopardized by failure to comply with the law with a practical, comprehensive understanding of the regulatory and enforcement landscape in a manner that is thorough and easily-digestible.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer recently announced the filing of lawsuits against some of the largest retailers in the United States.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer last week announced the filing of four lawsuits against some of the largest retailers in the United States, accusing them of misleading customers by advertising a “sales price” alongside an inflated “original price.”

The article notes that the holiday retail season is an ideal time to check that forced labor and bribery—the two top and interconnected supply-chain threats—do not undermine the success of your critical sales period.

The holiday retail season is an ideal time to check that forced labor and bribery—two top and interconnected supply-chain threats—do not undermine the success of your critical sales period.

The week of Feb. 22, the federal government took a significant step in the fight against forced (that is, slave, trafficked, child, and indentured) labor. President Barack Obama signed into law the ‘‘Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.” As explained in this BNA-Bloomberg article, this enactment, which takes effect March 10, 2016, critically closes a loophole by amending the Tariff Act of 1930 (Tariff Act) to remove the long-standing ‘‘immunity’’ for broad classes of goods made with forced and prison labor.

The federal government took another step in the fight against human trafficking and forced labor.  President Obama signed into law on February 24, 2016, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA).

Supply Chain Practice Co-Chairs Funk and Hirose’s chart compares human trafficking laws impacting businesses.

Companies doing business in the United Kingdom take note: the U.K. government just made the not-so-long-awaited announcement that businesses with an annual turnover of 36 million British pounds (£36M) will be subject to the reporting requirements of the U.K. Modern Slavery Act of 2015 (U.K. Act).

This article examines issues a company should consider when, designing a CSR program; drafting CSR program documents; implementing a CSR program and enforcing a CSR program.

This article, written by partner T. Markus Funk, senior counsel Paul Hirose and associate Elizabeth Breakstone, examines the U.K. Modern Slavery Act of 2015 and how it will affect companies doing business in the U.K.

A Practice Note describing key points to consider when developing and implementing a corporate social responsibility (CSR) supply chain compliance program.

The article examines the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act’s oft-confused website homage disclosure requirements.

Denver Partner T. Markus Funk and colleagues Paul O. Hirose and Elizabeth M. Banzhoff survey today’s key compliance challenges - from the recently-signed Executive Order on strengthening protections against trafficking in persons in federal contracts, the Business Transparency in Trafficking and Slavery Act, and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules on conflict minerals, to perennial compliance ‘‘hot topics’’ such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.S. Travel Act, U.K. Bribery Act, and carbon copy prosecutions - point out that a small number of “risk aggregators” are responsible for the greatest risk exposure, and argue that compliance professionals, to be effective, increasingly must break out of their narrow subject-matter expertise.