Keeping up with the regulators: where is the e-discovery news you can use?

The regulatory climate has been a hot topic, even eclipsing litigation for some companies as a driver for e-discovery and litigation readiness. In this post I’ll round up some recent and upcoming coverage and events for those looking to stay on top of the rising regulatory tide (or at least avoid falling victim to it).

  • Those attending Nick’s webinar last week with ZyLAB will note that regulatory investigations are a global problem, leading companies worldwide to adopt new standards of readiness in order to comply with potential data retrieval for initiatives like the UK Bribery Act, among others.  Failure to meet these standards can result in penalties, in some cases, even if the company is innocent of malfeasance.
  • As business becomes increasingly global, different national data privacy and security standards come into play as well, often bedeviling efforts to collect and transfer data between countries.  I moderated BrightTalk‘s webinar last week on Cross-Border E-discovery, which offers a good idea of the issues and best practices for this problem.  In the marketplace, we’ve recently seen vendors like FTI Technology marketing more on-the-ground services with their on-site Investigate offering to fill this need, particularly around investigations stemming from the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
  • In the US, we’ve seen a number of regulators given new autonomy in pursuing investigations in the wake of the financial crisis – a recent law.com article detailed new developments at the FTC, SEC, Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, taken from a panel I attended this fall organized by Recommind, featuring David Shonka, Principle Deputy General Counsel of the FTC, John Davis, partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, and Mark Racanelli, partner at O’Melveny & Myers.
  • Mr. Shonka also appeared at last month’s Masters Conference, speaking on the subject of how investigations are evolving in response to the cloud and data outsourcing.  He is scheduled to present at IQPC’s upcoming 4th E-Discovery for Financial Services Conference in February, as well – my write-up of the 2010 event is here.  The 2011 event will highlight The Dodd-Frank Act, plus the challenges of social media and exposure from the cloud, including best practices in developing an action plan as the landscape of e-discovery continues to change.  As a special offer, Too Much Information readers can receive 20% off the standard all access price to the 2011 event by entering the code EDFTMINFO when registering online. For more info, call 212-885-2738.
  • Lastly, I’ll plug our latest reports on cloud e-discovery and cloud archiving, both of which touch on how enterprise customers are meeting compliance and regulatory demands proactively with cloud offerings.  They are available for download now, or as part of the 451’s Information Management and CloudScape subscriptions.