As I always say, the factual underpinnings of every FCPA enforcement action provides important insights into bribery schemes. At the core of every scheme is the misappropriation of money from the company coffers for improper...more
11/29/2023
/ Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Ecuador ,
Foreign Official ,
Intermediaries ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Reinsurance ,
Reinsurance Agreements ,
Third-Party ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
DOJ announced two recent FCPA settlements with U.K. based reinsurance brokers involving a long-running bribery scheme involving two Ecuadoran state-owned insurance companies. While DOJ has had a slow year in FCPA...more
11/28/2023
/ Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Ecuador ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Insurance Brokers ,
Reinsurance ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
The Securities and Exchange Commission continues to rack up FCPA enforcement actions. In its latest settlement, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings agreed to pay $26.1 million for bribery violations committed by its former...more
The Albemarle FCPA enforcement action was announced at a good time. This year has been a slow year for DOJ’s FCPA enforcement program, although there are several months before the end of the year. The SEC, on the other hand,...more
10/4/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Government Entities ,
Oil & Gas ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Relationships ,
White Collar Crimes
Albemarle’s bribery schemes look and sound like text-book examples of third-party agents being paid high commissions as a way to funnel bribery payments to foreign officials at state-owned oil refineries. However, as usual,...more
10/3/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Entities ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Relationships ,
White Collar Crimes
Albemarle Corporation (Albemarle), a specialty chemicals manufacturing company located in Charlotte, North Carolina, agreed to pay more than $218 million to settle FCPA investigations with DOJ and the SEC stemming from...more
10/3/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Forfeiture ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Oil & Gas ,
Penalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
You can always learn a lot from reviewing the underlying conduct to an FCPA enforcement action. Chief compliance officers can identify specific risk factors, mitigation steps and root causes for bribery schemes.
...more
8/16/2023
/ Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Governments ,
Odebrecht ,
Public Projects ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice has been relatively quiet this year in bringing corporate FCPA enforcement actions and settlements. Aside from the Ericsson breach of its Deferred Prosecution Agreement, the Corficocolombiana...more
8/15/2023
/ Bribery ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
After a long-running investigation, Koninklijke Philips (“Philips), a Dutch company, resolved FCPA violations in China by agreeing to pay the SEC $62 million. Philips is a global manufacturer of medical equipment....more
Franks International (“Frank’s”) settled FCPA charges with the SEC for $8 million stemming from operations in Angola during the period 2008 to 2014. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Frank’s for the same events....more
5/11/2023
/ Angola ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Rio Tinto, the global mining and metals company, agreed to pay the SEC $15 million to settle FCPA violations arising from an alleged bribery scheme involving a senior Guinean government official....more
Flutter Entertainment, the previous owner of PokerStars, agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $4 million for improper payments to Russian-based consultants, stemming from conduct committed by The Stars Group,...more
3/28/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Online Gaming ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sports Betting ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department has been pushing its voluntary self-disclosure program and changes to its Corporate Enforcement Policy, in an attempt to increase FCPA enforcement cooperation. The Golden Ring for every company facing...more
3/23/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
The end of the road for Roger Ng, the Goldman Sachs Investment Banker, who played a critical role in the Goldman Sachs 1 MDB Malaysia scandal, was not a pretty one. District Judge Margo Brodie gave Ng a severe sentence of...more
3/16/2023
/ 1MDB ,
Bonds ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Malaysia ,
Money Laundering ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds ,
White Collar Crimes
This is not your typical FCPA enforcement action Lessons Learned column. Instead, Ericsson’s breach of its DPA presents a laundry list of internal investigation errors – as a practitioner in this area, this is the nightmare...more
3/9/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Document Management ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Investigations ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
Ericsson’s breach of its 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement reads like an internal investigation horror show. It is every investigator’s nightmare scenario – failure to discover evidence that was available to inform and...more
3/8/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Iraq ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
Ericsson, a multinational telecommunications company, based in Sweden, settled its breach of its 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement, agreed to enter a guilty plea and pay a $206 million penalty. In 2019, Ericsson entered...more
3/7/2023
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Iraq ,
ISIS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
In a recent decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals handed the U.S. Justice Department a victory in reversing an “out-of-whack” trial judge’s dismissal of two separate criminal indictments that were consolidated on...more
2/22/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Indictments ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
In its first enforcement action of 2023, the Justice Department charged a Connecticut man and a foreign national with FCPA bribery and money laundering charges stemming from a bribery scheme to secure contracts with Petrobras...more
2/21/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petrobras ,
Popular ,
White Collar Crimes
Here are some basic propositions that surround FCPA compliance. It is often underplayed that the FCPA contains more than just a bribery prohibition – the FCPA contains broad provisions, requiring accurate books and records...more
2/8/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ethics ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
White Collar Crimes
DOJ closed out its FCPA enforcement year in 2022 with two significant settlements, the ABB and Honeywell cases. Aside from these two big settlements, there was a flurry of other actions in the last quarter of 2022....more
1/13/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
The Honeywell FCPA settlement underscored a number of important issues – lessons learned for compliance professionals. Every FCPA case carries important lessons learned, but some more than others....more
The facts surrounding Honeywell’s bribery schemes in Brazil and Algeria are fairly straightforward. In Brazil, the facts underscore the significant risks of bribery when companies participate in large, valuable project...more
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission had a strong FCPA enforcement year. However, there is certainly more to come and it is easy to predict that 2023 will be even a bigger year....more
The ABB case, like most significant FCPA enforcement actions, sets important precedent and policy reminders. With time, and looking back, ABB gives companies with a prior criminal history a way forward to seek a fair...more
12/8/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Piling-On ,
South Africa ,
White Collar Crimes