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It is in America’s interest to develop a coherent and coordinated strategy for the Atlantic region. While the geopolitical conditions of the Atlantic region may differ from those of the Indo-Pacific, a strategy is needed to mitigate the pernicious activities of the Chinese Communist Party. The aim of a U.S. Atlantic strategy is to make the Atlantic region resilient against malicious Chinese and Russian influence by expanding regional cooperation, and helping to make U.S. partners secure, sovereign, and prosperous. America is a global power with global interests and responsibilities. It cannot turn a blind eye to competition in its own hemisphere.
By Jaclyn Jaeger2020-12-22T20:49:00+00:00
Following new guidance from the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) on how to better identify, monitor, and mitigate compliance risks, a follow-up, one-day virtual conference was held Dec. 18 to help compliance officers better understand the guidance and apply it in practice.
COSO states in its report, “Compliance Risk Management: Applying the COSO ERM Framework,” that its aim is “to provide guidance on the application of the COSO ERM Framework to the identification, assessment, and management of compliance risks” in alignment with the compliance and ethics (C&E) program framework. In all, COSO’s compliance risk management framework describes 120 key characteristics of an effective C&E program.
Grant awards are expected to range from $100,000 to $250,000.
This program has one annual application cycle and awards approximately 6-8 grants per year.
Projects should begin within six months of the award date and be completed within two to three years from the start date.
These grants require non-federal matching contributions valued at 50% of the total project costs (1:1 ratio).
Ineligible Uses of Grant Funds
Equipment: Applicants are encouraged to rent equipment where possible and cost-effective or use matching funds to make those purchases.
NFWF funds and matching contributions may not be used to support political advocacy, fundraising, lobbying, litigation, terrorist activities or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
Managing Upland Agricultural Runoff through Farm-Scale Conservation Systems and Solutions;
Managing Upland Urban Runoff through Green Stormwater Infrastructure Improvements (GSI);
Restoring Riparian and Freshwater Habitats through Forested Buffers, Floodplain and Wetland Reconnection, Stream Restoration and Habitat Improvements.
NFWF will award a total of $7-10 million in grants through the INSR program in 2021.
Awards will range from $500,000 to $1 million each, for an estimated 8-12 individual grants awards.
These grants require non-federal matching contributions equal to the grant request.
All 2021 INSR grants must be completed within three years of grant award.
Ineligible Uses of Grant Funds
Applicants are encouraged to rent equipment where possible and cost-effective or use matching funds to make those purchases.
Monday, December 21, 2020
Earlier this month, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) brought what it billed as a “historic enforcement action . . . tied to foreign corruption” against Vitol, Inc., a U.S.-based commodities trading firm doing business under the Vitol Group global corporate umbrella. The press release accompanying the settlement also cited the CFTC’s March 6, 2019, advisory on self-reporting violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) “involving foreign corrupt practices.”
In the Vitol settlement order itself, the Commission highlighted that “Vitol’s conduct during the Relevant Period involved corrupt payments (e.g., bribes and kickbacks) to employees and agents of certain state-owned entities (‘SOEs’) in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico,” which were “made . . . in exchange for improper preferential treatment and access to trades with the SOEs.”