Lincoln Caylor comments in Canadian Lawyer on the increased threat of fraud and corruption companies may face as economic instability and broken supply chains have arisen from the COVID-19 crisis.
Lincoln Caylor, a partner at Bennett Jones LLP, warns that U.S. regulators are actively investigating the public filings of companies to screen for those that are using the pandemic to hide prior failings or losses — a trend that may come to Canada. He also cautions that regulators are actively investigating the use of government funds, so in-house counsel should continue to be vigilant.
“The regulatory environment will swing back to more active investigations and you won’t be able to sweep things under the rug because of COVID. Those that try will risk compliance issues,” says Caylor.