Mike & Brent explore the classic “Fraud Triangle” of pressure, opportunity, and rationalization and discuss Brent’s creation of a new “Fraud Diamond Framework” (SM) to help trade compliance (and other) professionals who are looking not to explain past misconduct but instead to prevent future misconduct. They discuss recent news and developments in the export controls world (00:55), how seemingly inconsistent headlines are actually consistent with each other (04:05), and how Edward Fishman’s “impossible triad” concept continues to be a useful tool for understanding what’s happening in geopolitics and trade competition (06:22), and then they launch into their discussion of Brent’s Fraud Diamond Framework (SM) (08:05).

Regarding the Fraud Diamond Framework (SM), they discuss the classic fraud triangle and the backward-looking perspective from which it was derived (09:18), and then explain the Fraud Diamond Framwork’s four elements of pressure (12:08), opportunity (13:06), something that’s too good to be true that comes at a critical time for the business (14:06), and signs of concealment (15:48). Brent next explains the Fraud Diamond Framework (SM) through a historical case study pulled from his own prior experience helping a client with a compliance commercial fraud dispute involving the acquisition of a business in China (17:35), after which they explain how the Fraud Diamond Framework (SM) can help trade compliance teams today (23:02).

They conclude with another installment of Brent’s always popular “Managing Up” segment (24:43).

Contact Brent: brent@redflagsrising.com

Contact Mike: michael.huneke@morganlewis.com

“Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare” by Edward Fishman: https://a.co/d/3Phvprs

Brent’s original NYU PCCE post, “When Loopholes Create Liability Pitfalls: A Fresh Look at Export Controls” (Aug. 25, 2023): https://wp.nyu.edu/compliance_enforcement/2023/08/25/29814/