BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

Last week, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that salmonella has been detected in a popular flavor enhancer used in products ranging from hot dogs and salad dressing to potato chips and soup. Signs of contamination were also detected at the Basic Food Flavors plant, which made the hydrolyzed vegetable protein in question. Given the scope and sheer number of food products that contain the flavor enhancer, some experts are predicting that we may ... READ MORE

In 2009, the number of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) outpaced 2008’s figure by more than 20 percent. Given the steady increases in anti-corruption enforcement activity we’ve seen since in the last decade, some in the compliance community may be wondering just where the ceiling is. According to Mark Mendelsohn, the Deputy Chief of the DOJ fraud section’s criminal ... READ MORE

Each week, Bulletproof Blog™ features exclusive interviews with thought leaders on issues of critical importance to companies and countries. This week, in the wake of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on campaign spending by companies and other organizations, we interview Nadine B. Hack, the President and CEO of beCause Global Consulting, an international consulting firm that specializes in creating complex, multi-sector strategic alliances in a globalized world; reputation management in a socially-conscious society; and ... READ MORE

As part of a continuing series of Bulletproof Blog™ video interviews with thought leaders across multiple disciplines and industry sectors, I sat down with Donna Cryer, the CEO of Cryer Health, to discuss the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) and its role in helping its  more than 5,000 members better understand the  transformational issues facing the healthcare industry today. The HBA’s mission is to help women in the healthcare industry engage the key issues and individuals driving ... READ MORE

Last week, President Obama promised $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees for the first two new nuclear power reactors to be constructed in the United States in more than 30 years. The announcement, spurred by a continuing turnaround in nuclear energy industry’s reputation, was cheered by supporters as a “good first step” that will allow the industry to expand more rapidly. But before the champions of an American nuclear renaissance pop the corks on all those ... READ MORE

This week’s news that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will allow American Airlines and British Airways to “more closely coordinate international operations in transatlantic markets” among themselves and other carriers demonstrates that the correlation between Main Street opinion and Beltway deliberation is as strong as ever when it comes to competition issues. Even in this era of economic hardship and stepped up antitrust enforcement, we now have a clear indication that companies seeking to consolidate ... READ MORE

News earlier this month – that New York State Attorney General and gubernatorial aspirant Andrew Cuomo filed a fraud suit against former Bank of America head Ken Lewis and the bank’s former Chief Financial Officer – did not surprise most observers. Even if the lawsuit does not support Cuomo’s run for higher office (which it does), he’d already spent months investigating BofA executives for allegedly depriving shareholders of material information about Merrill Lynch’s financial condition ... READ MORE

In a move aimed at reassuring investors that fairness is being restored to the financial marketplace, President Obama last week announced that he is requesting a 12 percent increase in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) FY2011 budget. If enacted, the president’s request would infuse more than 100 new enforcement staffers into the SEC as it continues to take on a rapidly growing case load. Since Chairman Mary Schapiro took the helm of the embattled agency ... READ MORE

President John F. Kennedy once said that “the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” While this is indeed sage advice, it is unfortunately seldom followed by legislators and regulators who are often too preoccupied with investigating the problems of the past to focus their attention on the dangers that lurk ahead. At the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), however, Chairman Mary Schapiro is seeking to change that dynamic. The Division of Risk, ... READ MORE

Left-leaning voices are calling it the Supreme Court’s most damaging ruling since 1857’s Dred Scott decision. Those on the right are cheering it as a repeal of “one of the worst abridgments of the First Amendment since the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.” But no matter what you think of the High Court’s recent move to repeal limits on corporate spending on political campaigns, it’s clear that the 2010 election cycle is shaping ... READ MORE