The Securities and Exchange Commission’s bread-and-butter enforcement actions focus on accounting fraud. The SEC has a long history in uncovering fraudulent financial reporting schemes. In the early 2000s, Wall Street was...more
After a long hiatus, the SEC announced a settlement with WPP plc, the world’s largest advertising group, for FCPA violations in India, China, Brazil and Peru for $19.2 million. The SEC’s resolution charges WPP with...more
On July 26, 2021, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California held, after a bench trial, that Plaintiff Botta failed to prove that Defendant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) terminated his...more
- The COVID-19 crisis creates heightened risk of improper financial reporting. - Audit committees can and should take steps to help prevent such frauds. - Audit Committees should maintain the appropriate tone at the...more
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prohibits payment of bribes to foreign officials to assist with obtaining or retaining business. It also requires companies whose securities are listed in the US to make and keep...more
June 20, 2019 – Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and its subsidiary, WMT Brasilia, agreed to a combined criminal penalty and disgorgement of $282M, together with WMT’s criminal guilty plea and undertakings in an NPA, to reach a global...more
The big one finally is resolved. The long-awaited Walmart Inc. (Walmart) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action was announced yesterday. This massive case came in with multiple documents, a long list of...more
Over this two-part blog post series, I have been considering the Stryker Corporation 2018 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)....more
Stryker Corporation has suffered a second FCPA enforcement action, and will now bear the stigma of FCPA “recidivist.” In reaching a settlement with the SEC and agreeing to pay a $7.8 million civil penalty, Stryker will now...more
As we look across the corporate governance landscape and focus on the spikes of corporate scandals, I started to wonder if there was any pattern or trend to the nature of corporate scandals....more
When most people across the globe think of Rolls-Royce, one word comes to mind – excellence. Yet that image largely relates to Rolls-Royce Limited, the automobile manufacturer, which was founded in 1909. Just a few years...more
Embraer SA, Brazil's flagship aerospace manufacturer and a worldwide competitor across various aviation markets, experienced first-hand the scope and reach of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Embraer agreed to pay...more
Last week, the Justice Department and the SEC announced parallel FCPA settlements totaling $22 million in fines, penalties and disgorgement against LAN Airlines, a Chile-based airline, for conduct in resolving a labor dispute...more
Just like the ups and downs of the business cycle, SEC enforcement of accounting fraud cases follow an up and down trend as well. For example, during the financial crisis, SEC enforcement of accounting fraud cases took a back...more
SEC Enforcement Trends for 2016 - Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick and West’s Securities Litigation and Enforcement Newsletter. In this newsletter, we look at SEC enforcement trends for 2016, starting with a...more
Financial fraud was a staple of SEC enforcement for years. Complex financial fraud cases in which the “books were cooked” to make earnings guidance, increase bonuses or for other reasons were the daily grist of SEC...more
Financial fraud actions have traditionally been a staple of SEC Enforcement. During the market crisis, however, the number of those cases waned. Following the formation of a task force focused on financial statement fraud,...more
On September 8, the SEC charged a sports supplements and nutrition company, its former audit committee chairman and three of its current and former executive officers with committing accounting, disclosure and other...more
Ed. Note-today we have a guest post from Jean-Michel Ferat ,CPA, CFF is a Managing Director in the Washington D.C office of the Claro Group around his views on the BHP Billiton enforcement action. Much has been made in...more
The SEC recently announced the settlement of charges against DGSE Companies Inc. and its former CFO for accounting fraud resulting primarily from his manipulation of the company’s accounting for inventory. DGSE disclosed in...more
Ten years ago, Sarbanes-Oxley was the focus of compliance and corporate governance reform. Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted in response to major corporate scandals involving financial reporting fraud and accounting...more