Reaction was swift from the ethics, compliance and governance communities. Professor Ester Bonne from the Center for Ethics Statistics stated “What better way to haphazardly ruin a corporation’s reputation than to name them to the World’s Least Ethical Companies list?” She added “This will surely help reduce excessive executive compensation at these companies, albeit in a roundabout way”.

Ari Kidden, spokesperson for the Ethisphere Institute took a similar view. “We anticipate a lot of web traffic resulting from the publishing of our ‘World’s Least Ethical Companies™ ranking and plan to sell cleverly worded T-Shirts on the website that will make us all a lot of money” said Kidden.

“We are particularly excited about the World’s Most Kinda Ethical™ list as it is sooooo American to celebrate mediocrity, from trophies for Little Leaguers just for showing up, to grade inflation in college. We are excited to be extending this trend into the corporate world” Kidden added.

Some legal experts have already raised concerns about exposure that the Ethisphere Institute may be assuming in designating the world’s “least ethical” companies but others were impressed at the bold maneuver.

One outside counsel, who insisted on remaining unnamed in order to not jeopardize his client relationship with the Ethisphere Institute, called the development “Awesome!”. He added “I can only imagine how upset companies will be to see themselves on the ‘least ethical’ list… and my billings are going to skyrocket.” This individual was nonplussed however about the ‘kinda ethical’ list… deeming it “a waste of time.”

And if you have made it this far… APRIL FOOLS!

“Mexico is an extremely important player in the world economy. With respect to the United States alone, Mexico is its third largest goods trading partner,” TRACE President Alexandra Wrage said. “Knowing the pressure points of doing business in Mexico is a critical first step in tailoring an effective anti-bribery compliance program. The BRIBEline Mexico Report gives concrete information about the people who are requesting bribes in Mexico, how frequently such requests are made and what the bribe seekers hope to achieve.”

The largest percentage of overall bribe solicitations, 45 percent, comes from the police, according to the BRIBEline study. Bribe demands from federal officials come in at 12 percent overall.

“The BRIBEline Mexico results present two compliance challenges,” Wrage said. “First, frequent demands for small amounts of cash are very difficult to track and properly record on a company’s books and records. Second, training employees and third party agents who are conducting business in Mexico to properly respond to extortionate demands for cash, which are often made by a police officer, is no easy task either.”

The full BRIBEline report is available at www.bribeline.org.

In response to the CPSC warning, Infantino LLC, the company behind one of the most controversial baby slings, has announced a recall of over one million baby slings that have been sold throughout North America.

“It does not matter how old your baby is at this point with the Infantino sling,” CPSC’s Scott Wolfson told ABC News. “Do not use it. This sling places the baby in a very deep part of the product. What is so dangerous is when the fabric covers nose and mouth or when baby is turned into the body of the mother and the airway is restricted.”

At least 13 babies have died while resting in the sling, including three this year, according to news reports. According to the CPSC, a child can suffocate when a sling’s cloth is covering its nose and mouth. Because of babies’ weak neck muscles, they are not always able to turn their head free.

In a statement, Infantino said, “We appreciate the actions by the CPSC today, and are committed to working with them as well as parents and caregivers to address concerns they may have with baby slings.”

Just after obtaining the information—and right before an earnings release—Oleksandr Dorozhko purchased 630 put options on IMS’ common stock, according to Reuters. The next day IMS’ stock dropped by 28 percent and Dorozhko earned $287,346 after selling the options.

The SEC filed a complaint against Dorozhko in late 2007, but on January 7, 2008, the District Court denied the SEC’s motion for a preliminary injunction, according to a statement by the SEC. The Court concluded that “Dorozhko’s alleged ’stealing and trading’ or ‘hacking and trading’ does not amount to a violation … because Dorozhko did not breach any fiduciary or similar duty ‘in connection with’ the purchase or sale of a security.”

Upon appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit thought otherwise, saying “that nothing in the U.S. Supreme Court’s jurisprudence or prior decisions of our Court expressly imposes a fiduciary-duty requirement on the ordinary meaning of ‘deceptive’ where the alleged fraud is an affirmative misrepresentation rather than a nondisclosure.”

After the case was sent back to the District Court, the judge ordered the $580,000 penalty.

Brazil has already announced a few positive steps in this direction. For example, the country announced that deforestation in the Amazon has been slowed by 45 percent over the past four years. Over 50 percent of Brazil’s energy comes from renewable sources, according to a report by Forbes. And the government is proposing a new law that would give federal grants and other assistance to land owners that attempt to reintroduce native vegetation to their land.

The service is allowed to operate as a natural monopoly, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, because having more than one identification system would complicate the trading system. While accepting this fact, the EU’s investigation is looking into whether or not Standard & Poor’s is overcharging for the service.

A spokesperson for S&P told the Wall Street Journal that the company “strongly disagrees with the EC’s preliminary assessment and believes the Commission has grossly undervalued Standard & Poor’s effort, expertise and costs required to operate a global identification system that benefits millions of investors and market participants world-wide.”

Police allege that Si had discovered several incidents of illegal activity performed by Truong and reported him to government officials. After Si made his reports, Truong allegedly hired Luan to harass Si in an attempt to have the former deputy withdraw his reports. After Si refused, Luan allegedly hired the five other men and attacked and killed Si.

PGS, a subsidiary of the large security firm Securitas Security Services, was providing security services for a Department of Energy installation between 2001 and 2005. During that time, the company was reimbursed by the DOE for all costs, including the costs of providing health insurance to employees, according to a statement by the Department of Justice. PGS allegedly overcharged for those health care costs.

The case was brought to the attention of the DOJ by two whistleblowers who filed a qui tam suit against the company under the False Claims Act. The two whistleblowers will receive a total of $172,805 from the settlement, according to the DOJ.

The clients say that the Willis Group illegally vouched for R. Allen Stanford, the owner of Stanford Financial Group, in letters he sent to his customers, according to a report by Bloomberg News. The complaint alleges that Willis acted as a sales agent for Stanford Financial, crossing the line of being solely an insurance broker.

All of the plaintiffs in this case are from Venezuela. A previous, similar case was filed on behalf of former Mexican clients of Stanford.

A spokesperson for the Willis Group told the New York Times that “it did not suspect any of its workers knew of fraud at Stanford” and that the company will “defend itself vigorously.”

“The personal compensation received by CEOs while the companies they serve engage in wrongdoing can be clawed back,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, in a statement released by the SEC. “The costs of such misconduct need not be borne by shareholders alone.”

“Jenkins was captain of the ship and profited during the time that CSK was misleading investors about the company’s financial health,” said Rosalind R. Tyson, Director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office, in the statement. ‘The law requires Jenkins to return those proceeds to CSK.”

Commentary: The final line of the SEC statement reads, “The SEC’s complaint does not allege that Jenkins engaged in the fraudulent conduct.” This is an important new precedent set by the SEC. Now, even if a CEO is unaware of accounting fraud occurring within his or her organization, he or she is still liable for it. The SEC was given the power to do this through claw back provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley, though this is the first time the provisions have been used.

The list, which reportedly took 18 months to compile, was created with the help of environmental research groups, including KLD Research & Analytics, Trucost and CorporateRegister.com.

The top 5 Companies on the Green Rankings are:

1. Hewlett-Packard
2. Dell
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel
5. IBM

“The Commission has reason to believe that there may have been a violation in this sector of rules on restrictive business practices (Article 81),” the EC said in a prepared statement.

Commentary: The Commission pointed out that raids and inspections are a “preliminary step” in larger cartel and anti-trust investigations. Still, one has to be suspicious because of the high-profile raids and large dollar amount fines levied against glass companies at the end of last year. Although the information on the special glass sector raids is just now becoming known, the Commission admitted it began investigating in March of 2009, fresh off the case of the earlier, 2008 glass cartel.

As the trial begins, renewed attention has been given to the case, particularly from within Hollywood. As Franceska Schroeder, a trade compliance attorney told the Associated Press, “I think a message is being sent loud and clear that the government is going after violators no matter what industry they are in.”

Both Mr. and Mrs. Green face up to life in prison if convicted on all their charges. They both deny making payments to earn the film festival contracts.

The other, less common initiative involves “10 different green design restaurants,” according to Bob Langert, VP for social responsibility at McDonald’s. Langert told Daily Finance News that the 10 stores will be used as “learning laboratories” that will help teach the company how to reduce water and energy usage. According to Langert, a Chicago store already “reduced its water usage by 50 percent and energy usage by 25 percent.” McDonald’s hopes to extend the same reductions company-wide.

Filipino workers were not allowed to use the company cafeteria for their lunches. Non-Chinese employees were not allowed access to food, lodging or medical care. The company said this separation, although blatantly illegal, “promoted a harmonious working environment.”

The EEOC also alleged in its lawsuit that pregnant employees were laid off and replaced with other, non-pregnant workers.

After the discriminated employees complained and reported the violations to the EEOC, they were all told that they were being laid off because of low sales. All the laid off employees were replaced by Chinese workers.

“This major settlement shows that the EEOC will vigorously protect the rights of all workers, within every reach of our jurisdiction, to be free of discrimination,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “The resolutions of these egregious cases bring a measure of justice to the many workers who were retaliated against and otherwise victimized by discriminatory employment practices because of their national origin, age, or pregnancy.”

The $1.7 million payment will resolve four separate discrimination lawsuits brought against L&T and its affiliates by the EEOC. The affiliates are Tan Holdings Corporation; Tan Holdings Overseas, Inc.; Concorde Garment Manufacturing Corp.; Micro Pacific, Inc.; Seasonal Inc.; and L&T International Corp.

The company will also have to implement a series of injunctive relief measures, such as hiring an equal opportunity consultant to train all managers and employees and agreeing to being monitored by the EEOC, among other remedies.

Filipino workers were not allowed to use the company cafeteria for their lunches. Non-Chinese employees were not allowed access to food, lodging or medical care. The company said this separation, although blatantly illegal, “promoted a harmonious working environment.”

The EEOC also alleged in its lawsuit that pregnant employees were laid off and replaced with other, non-pregnant workers.

After the discriminated employees complained and reported the violations to the EEOC, they were all told that they were being laid off because of low sales. All the laid off employees were replaced by Chinese workers.

“This major settlement shows that the EEOC will vigorously protect the rights of all workers, within every reach of our jurisdiction, to be free of discrimination,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “The resolutions of these egregious cases bring a measure of justice to the many workers who were retaliated against and otherwise victimized by discriminatory employment practices because of their national origin, age, or pregnancy.”

The $1.7 million payment will resolve four separate discrimination lawsuits brought against L&T and its affiliates by the EEOC. The affiliates are Tan Holdings Corporation; Tan Holdings Overseas, Inc.; Concorde Garment Manufacturing Corp.; Micro Pacific, Inc.; Seasonal Inc.; and L&T International Corp.

The company will also have to implement a series of injunctive relief measures, such as hiring an equal opportunity consultant to train all managers and employees and agreeing to being monitored by the EEOC, among other remedies.

Antasari, Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commision of Indonesia (KPK), was alleged to have orchestrated the murder of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen because Nasrudin was allegedly intimately involved with a female golf caddy that Antasari was attracted to, according to Indonesian news reports. Antasari denies involvement in the murder.

Commentary: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono champions an effective national anti-corruption effort (so much so that he earned a spot on Ethisphere’s 2007’s 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics list). It goes without saying this puts a strain on those efforts.

In order to sell three of its nasal sprays—Azmacort, Nasacort and Nasacort AQ—to Medicaid, the company advertised that it sold the products to consumers at a higher value than its actual market price. This violated the Medicaid Drug Rebate Statute that requires companies to sell drugs to Medicaid for the best price that it offers to everyday consumers.

The $95.5 million will be broken down into three parts: $49 million will go to the U.S. government, $40 million will go to state Medicaid programs that overpaid for the drugs and the remainder will go to other public health entities that overpaid for the products.

The fine is the highest ever imposed by the CPSC for allegations of importing or distributing a regulated product. It is also the third highest fine in CPSC history, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The settlement “resolves Mattel’s outstanding issues with the agency related to certain matters that arose in 2007,” the company said in a statement. “Mattel promptly took a series of steps after discovering compliance issues with some of our toys at that time. We were able to effectively minimize any potential concerns by launching a fast-track recall of the affected product in conjunction with the CPSC and other global regulatory agencies.”

Valspar was tipped off to the theft after Lee allegedly resigned abruptly from his job two weeks after returning from a business trip in China. According to the complaint against him, Lee accepted a job at Nippon Paint Co., one of Valspar’s competitors.

The company discovered suspicious activity on Lee’s laptop, such as recently deleted records as well as a hidden file that contained a number of unauthorized programs, according to the Minneapolis Business Journal.

The employee, Kimberly Lebron, a compliance manager, alleged that the South Korean postal agency offered to invest $50 million into an AIG fund in exchange for a six week paid vacation for one of its employees, according to a story by Reuters.

After raising the issue with her supervisors, she alleged that she was fired from the company in retaliation. AIG denies the allegations and plans to “defend the action vigorously.”

Commentary: Of course, we don’t know the other circumstances of her employment with AIG but the concept that someone is blowing the whistle on a single vacation underscores the mainstreaming of FCPA awareness and willingness by an employee to highlight what is non-compliance. We are not talking millions of dollars in bribes here.

Furthermore, if true, we wonder why a company would bother adding a compliance officer to its payroll if it didn’t plan on listening to complaints raised by the compliance team in the first place. Compliance professionals are, obviously, experts in areas such as FCPA violations. And, for that matter, are also very familiar with laws protecting them against retaliation.

According to the company, as part of the new procedures, McDonald’s has agreed to survey all its potato suppliers, create a list of best practices in regards to pesticide use and distribute to its global suppliers, and relay its findings to shareholders.

“Because McDonald’s has such a commanding presence in the marketplace, this commitment offers the promise of significant reductions of pesticide use — which will benefit consumer health, as well as farm workers, local agricultural communities, and the environment,” said Bruce Herbert, chief executive officer of Newground Social Investment.

The former employee, John Schwab, alleges in his complaint that he was informed by one of the company’s Directors that CEO William Hartman was requesting a bonus of $7,500,000 million dollars as part of his four year compensation package. Because Citizens had recently accepted $300 million in TARP funds, Schwab told the Director that he did not feel the compensation was appropriate.

The Board of Directors later decided that Hartman’s role as CEO would end in January of 2009. Two days before that day, Hartman called Schwab into his office and allegedly told Schwab that he had undermined him. The CEO then allegedly told Schwab, “You’re going to retire.”

Schwab, 64, later sued the company for wrongful discharge and age discrimination.