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Larry Thompson, the former deputy U.S. attorney general and Atlanta lawyer who is the independent compliance auditor for the settlement of Volkswagen's cheating on environmental tests, is demanding more transparency from the company.
Thompson's comments came in his first annual report on how the automaker is complying with a $1.45 billion settlement of civil claims with the U.S. government. Thompson, known as the “ICA” in the matter, was a King & Spalding partner, Atlanta U.S. attorney and deputy U.S. attorney general during the George W. Bush administration before serving as senior vice president and general counsel at PepsiCo.
“Occasionally, the ICA has contended with the VW defendants' reluctance to share certain information,” wrote Thompson, now counsel in Atlanta at Finch McCranie. “This reluctance has included the VW defendants' use of redactions in documents provided to the ICA, based on claims of attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product, and data privacy.”
“With respect to the VW Defendants' assertions of privilege and work-product,” the report continued, “the ICA has disagreed with some of the VW Defendants' assertions. The VW Defendants have promised further improvements in their provision of information, and increased the frequency of discussions with the ICA regarding this topic. The ICA is committed to working with the VW Defendants to resolve all redaction issues and other withholding of information. This issue must be promptly resolved in the next reporting period for the ICA to effectively perform his duties.”
Hiltrud Werner, a VW board member overseeing integrity and legal affairs, said at a news conference: “Volkswagen is striving to achieve excellence in integrity and compliance within all its brands, regions and companies. This includes not only our structures and processes, but also our attitudes and conduct.”
Daily Report Managing Editor Jonathan Ringel contributed to this version of this article, which first appeared in Law.com's “Compliance Hot Spots” column.
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