Describe the differences between civil and criminal law. Discuss how criminal law intersects with business world and give an example of a recent crime that has impacted the business world you have heard about on the news for discussion.

As you read in our textbook, it is a crime to use a business in furtherance of a criminal scheme. More recently, the federal and state governments have imposed regulations requiring certain businesses to take affirmative measures to prevent customers from using their services in furtherance of unlawful activities. One example is the "Know Your Customer" ("KYC") regulations imposed on the financial services industry in 2001, requiring banks, brokerages, etc., to make an effort to identify their customers and monitor transactions for fraudulent activity -- such as money laundering.

• Do you believe that businesses should be charged with a legal duty to monitor their customers' behavior?
• Why or why not?

Another example of a regulation imposing an affirmative obligation on a business to monitor customers and prevent illegal activity is the "New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program" ("NJPMP"). The NJPMP is a statewide database that collects prescription data on Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS), Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and gabapentin dispensed in New Jersey. Pursuant to the NJPMP regulation, physicians are mandated to access the database before dispensing an opioid drug (oxycodone, morphine, codeine, etc.) to a patient for the first time, and to determine whether they believe the patient is seeking the opioid drugs for illegal purposes.

• Comparing this example to the previous example involving KYC regulations, do you believe that the NJPMP regulation imposes too great of a legal burden upon physicians?
• The purpose of the regulation is to combat illicit drug use and overdose deaths in New Jersey. Are the burdens imposed upon physicians reasonable in light of the regulatory intent?
• Might the regulation forestall legitimate access to these effective opioid drugs for patients who truly need them?

Are there any other examples you can think of where the government has imposed regulations requiring businesses to monitor their customers?