OPINION ON LOBBYISTS ON BOARDS. The Post. “A federal judge Wednesday upheld an Obama administration ban on lobbyists serving on advisory panels, throwing out a lawsuit brought by six lobbyists who hoped to serve on such boards and committees.”
OPINION ON LOBBYISTS ON BOARDS. Here. “Because the DOC and USTR policy does not offend the Constitution, and it is rationally related to a legitimate government aim, the Court will grant defendants’ motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).”
PAY TO PLAY FINE. Story here. “Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) will pay $14.4 million to resolve regulatory claims that a former banker made improper campaign contributions to a Massachusetts treasurer while seeking state underwriting business.”
SEC RELEASE ON PAY TO PLAY CASE. Here. “While the SEC’s case against Morrison continues, Goldman Sachs agreed to settle the charges by paying $7,558,942 in disgorgement, $670,033 in prejudgment interest, and a $3.75 million penalty, which is the largest ever imposed by the SEC for Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) pay-to-play violations. The SEC coordinated this enforcement action with a related action filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General against Goldman Sachs.”
OCE PRESSURE. Story here. “Watchdog groups are pressing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to select replacements for the four retiring members on the board of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE).”
SUPER PAC INCEPTION. Roll Call. “In the latest example of do-gooders using big money to fight big money, a super PAC is advising candidates how to rebuff super PAC attacks and how to score political points by assailing unrestricted campaign spending.”
MOBLEY PLEA. DOJ Release.
TYCO FCPA ACTION. FCPA Professor. “I’ve said before and I will say again (based on nearly a decade of FCPA practice experience conducting FCPA internal investigations around the world) that if every large multi-national company with diverse global business units, with tens of thousands of employees scattered across the world, would hire FCPA counsel to do a complete and thorough world-wide review of the company’s operations, given the current enforcement theories, including the standardless books and records and internal controls theories of enforcement, 95% of companies would find problematic conduct (the other 5% of companies either hired counsel not well versed on the current enforcement theories and/or counsel did not look hard enough).”
G EXECUTIVE DETAINED. The Post. “Brazil’s strict electoral laws limit what critics can say on television, radio and the Internet about candidates for office. Ahead of municipal elections next month, Google has received repeated requests to remove Web videos that allegedly violate those restrictions.”
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.