Our long national nightmare is over – President Gerald Ford, August 9, 1974 -
So, $900 million and roughly 8 years later, DOJ and the SEC announced the end of the Walmart FCPA enforcement action. (DOJ and SEC). The...more
6/24/2019
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Internal Controls ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wal-Mart
As the old adage provides – better late than never. (Same applies for my somewhat tardy posting on this case).
Telefônica Brasil settled FCPA violations with the SEC for a pretty penny — $4.125 million in civil penalties...more
6/11/2019
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Comply ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Internal Controls ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Telecommunications ,
World Cup
Fresenius Medical’s FCPA settlement for $231 million demonstrates again the continuing vitality surrounding the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy – which provides a carefully constructed framework for encouraging voluntary...more
4/4/2019
/ Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fresenius ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Risk ,
White Collar Crimes
Fresenius Medical, the largest supplier of dialysis equipment and services agreed to pay $231 million to the Justice Department and the SEC to resolve FCPA violations in 17 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe....more
4/2/2019
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fresenius ,
Internal Investigations ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The MTS FCPA enforcement action stands as one of several significant prosecutions in FCPA history. The breadth and depth of MTS’ corruption scheme stands as another example of systemic bribery cultures. The details of the...more
3/14/2019
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Internal Controls ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telecommunications ,
Uzbekistan ,
VimpelCom ,
White Collar Crimes
The MTS bribery scandal in Uzbekistan represents the culmination of several significant FCPA violations involving VimpelCom, Telia Sonera, MTS, and Gulnara Karimova, the notoriously corrupt daughter of the former Uzbek...more
3/13/2019
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telecommunications ,
Uzbekistan ,
VimpelCom ,
White Collar Crimes
In another blockbuster FCPA prosecution, the Justice Department and the SEC announced an $850 million settlement with Mobile Telesystems (“MTS”), Russia’s largest mobile carrier....more
3/12/2019
/ Bribery ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Indictments ,
Money Laundering ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Telecommunications ,
Uzbekistan
In the first corporate FCPA action of 2019, Cognizant Technology Solutions Company settled its long-running FCPA case, agreeing to pay the SEC $25 million....more
2/18/2019
/ Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Construction Industry ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Indictments ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
White Collar Crimes
In a December 2018 enforcement settlement, the SEC and Brazil’s Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. (“Eletrobras”) agreed to violating books and records and internal accounting controls requirements and paid a $2.5 million...more
1/18/2019
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Bid Rigging ,
Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Nuclear Power ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
White Collar Crimes
Polycom, Inc., a U.S. communication technology company, which was recently acquired by Plantronics, earned a DOJ declination and entered into an SEC settlement for FCPA violations in China. DOJ released a declination letter;...more
On December 19, 2018, the SEC announced settlements with two former senior executives of Panasonic Avionics Corporation.
In April 2018, Panasonic Avionics settled FCPA charges with the Justice Department and the SEC and...more
1/11/2019
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Panasonic ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
Happy New Year!
Another year is in the books for FCPA enforcement and compliance. The headline for this past year (like many other years) is/was – The more things change, the more they stay the same....more
1/3/2019
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Panasonic ,
Petrobras ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
UBS Group agreed to pay a combined $15 million penalty to the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”)and the SEC for regulatory deficiencies in its anti-money laundering compliance program. ...more
12/20/2018
/ BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Resident Aliens ,
Penalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
UBS
The SEC announced last week a $5 million FCPA settlement with Vantage Drilling International (“Vantage”), a Texas-based offshore drilling company. ...more
11/30/2018
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Due Diligence ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Marketing ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petrobras ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Third-Party Agents ,
White Collar Crimes
Companies have definitely matured in the development and implementation of their ethics and compliance programs. Whether the pace has been rapid enough or is too slow, that is a debatable issue. A good litmus test for a...more
10/9/2018
/ Bribery ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Internal Controls ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
When it comes to a poster-child for corrupt organizations, there is very little competition that can eclipse Petrobas, the Brazilian state-owned oil and gas company. ...more
10/3/2018
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petrobras ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Political Corruption ,
Remediation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
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
10/2/2018
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Books & Records ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Hospitals ,
Internal Audit Functions ,
Internal Controls ,
Medical Devices ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Recidivism ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Stryker ,
White Collar Crimes
When you read through the United Technologies SEC FCPA enforcement action, you cannot help but shake your head – the level of abuse and participation by senior managers in the UT companies – Pratt & Whitney and Otis Elevator...more
The SEC’s FCPA Unit had a good week last week – they announced a second FCPA settlement along with the Sanofi case. The latest to fall was United Technologies that agreed to pay $13.9 million for bribes paid by its elevator...more
9/19/2018
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Relationships ,
White Collar Crimes
Well, add another pharmaceutical company to the FCPA healthcare “sweep.” Frankly, the term “sweep” makes it sound like a coordinated enforcement effort – instead, it is more accurate to think of it as multiple prosecutions...more
9/18/2018
/ Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Internal Controls ,
Kickbacks ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Reimbursements ,
Sanofi ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
In light of the evolving (or evolved) DOJ and SEC approach to FCPA enforcement in the merger and acquisition context, global companies have to emphasize their post-acquisition process. ...more
9/14/2018
/ Audits ,
Code of Conduct ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Communications ,
Corporate Officers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Directors ,
Due Diligence ,
Employee Training ,
Ethics ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Integration ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transitional Arrangements
Global companies that grow through a deliberate merger and acquisition strategy continue to face significant anti-corruption risks. The list of FCPA enforcement actions includes numerous examples of companies that settled...more
There are two distinct themes in FCPA enforcement – the first is consistency, i.e., that some enforcement actions are relatively consistent across the board and, in the last five to ten years, the FCPA caseload has been...more
7/16/2018
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Monitoring ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Remediation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
White Collar Crimes
Credit Suisse has joined the ranks of other banks and companies that have settled FCPA violations involving hiring of government officials’ relatives in exchange for business benefits, including JPMorgan Chase; BNY Mellon,...more
7/11/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Credit Suisse ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Comply ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Internal Controls ,
Investment Banks ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sons And Daughters ,
White Collar Crimes
Credit Suisse Group AG and its Hong Kong subsidiary settled FCPA charges with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Justice Department announced that Credit Suisse’s Hong Kong subsidiary...more
7/10/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Credit Suisse ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Investment Banks ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sons And Daughters ,
White Collar Crimes