A little more than a year after Deustche Telekom (“DT”) and Magyar Telekom entered into multi-million dollar settlements with the SEC and DOJ to resolve claims that the two companies violated the FCPA, three former Magyar executives lost their bid to have their parallel SEC enforcement action dismissed. On February 8, 2013, Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the Southern District of New York denied the former Magyar executives’ motion to dismiss “in its entirety” in an opinion that — if upheld — could have far reaching implications for the government’s expansive interpretation of the FCPA.

BACKGROUND -

On December 29, 2011, the SEC and DOJ announced settlements totaling almost $100 million with DT and its Hungarian wholly-owned subsidiary Magyar based on Magyar’s offering or making of improper payments to Macedonian and Montenegrin government officials, as well as both Magyar’s and DT’s failure to keep accurate books and records.