Enforcement Action

General Cable said last week in an earnings release that it has set aside an estimated charge of $28 million that it believes the Securities and Exchange Commission likely will disgorge from profits derived from sales tainted by improper payments made in several countries. As previously disclosed, General Cable said it’s “been reviewing, with the assistance of external counsel, our use and payment of agents in connection with, and certain other transactions involving, our operations in Angola, Thailand, India, China and Egypt.”

Analogic, an airport security and medical-imaging technology provider, said in a quarterly filing this week that it has proposed a $1.6 million settlement to the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case.The potential sanctions concern certain questionable transactions involving Analogic’s Danish subsidiary BK Medical and certain of its foreign distributors. Details inside.

The Department of Justice will extend for an additional year a deferred-prosecution agreement reached in 2012 with Biomet, after the medical device maker self-reported additional potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The three-year DPA, which would have expired March 26, 2015, will now expire on March 26, 2016. Details inside.

Akamai Technologies disclosed in its annual report with the SEC that it is conducting an internal investigation related to potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The cloud services provider said it voluntarily reported the internal investigation to the SEC and Department of Justice last month. Details inside.

From remarks last week at a conference in Washington D.C., SEC Director of Enforcement Andrew Ceresney highlighted three types of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act misconduct that most often arise in the pharmaceutical industry: pay-to-prescribe, formulary drugs, and charitable contributions. More of Ceresney’s observations are inside.

Eli Lilly announced in a regulatory filing last week that the Department of Justice has closed its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation without bringing any charges. The parallel investigation followed a $29.4 million civil settlement that the drug company reached with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2012 for FCPA violations. Details inside.

An internal investigation that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries began three years ago into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act continues to expand in scope, and further appears to have found evidence of wrongdoing, the company stated in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Details inside.

Twenty-First Century Fox and News Corp. announced in separate regulatory filings with the SEC that the Justice Department will not file charges following the completion of its investigation into the phone hacking scandal. Both companies faced potential charges for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act concerning alleged bribes paid to police for news leads. Details inside.

Engineering and construction firm PBSJ has agreed to pay $3.4 million in financial remedies to the SEC for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by offering and authorizing bribes and employment to foreign officials to secure Qatari government contracts. Details inside.

Nortek disclosed last week in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has launched an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act concerning potential improper payments made by its Chinese manufacturing unit. Details inside.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions brought by the Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission in 2014 held steady in comparison to the previous year's enforcement numbers, while the average price tag in penalty amounts continued to skyrocket. In 2014, the average total value of monetary resolutions in FCPA enforcement actions reached $156.6 million, in comparison to $80 million in 2013. Details inside.

French power and transportation giant Alstom SA agreed Monday to pay $772 million to settle criminal violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, setting a record for largest FCPA settlement ever. Deputy Attorney General James Cole called Alstom’s misconduct "astounding in its breadth, its brazenness and its worldwide consequences," involving bribes to government officials around the world. Alstom’s U.S. subsidiaries will work under deferred-prosecution agreements.

Analogic, an airport security and medical-imaging technology provider, has disclosed that it’s likely to face sanctions by the Department of Justice and SEC for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The potential sanctions concern certain questionable transactions involving Analogic’s Danish subsidiary BK Medical and certain of its foreign distributors. Details inside.

Dallas Airmotive, a provider of aircraft engine maintenance, repair and overhaul services, has reached a $14 million settlement with the Department of Justice to resolve criminal charges over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The settlement resolves charges that Dallas Airmotive bribed government officials in Latin America in order to secure lucrative government contracts. Details inside.

One year after paying more than $398 million to U.S. prosecutors for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Total S.A. is expected to face new corruption charges, this time in France. In announcing the settlement last year, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Mythili Raman said the Total case marks the “first coordinated action by French and U.S. law enforcement in a major foreign bribery case.” Details inside.

Caldwell

U.S. regulators increasingly are collaborating with foreign governments to fight bribery and corruption on a global scale, advancing the Justice Department’s efforts to uncover and prosecute violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. “Every day, more countries join in the battle against transnational bribery,” said Leslie Caldwell, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, during a recent speech. More of her comments inside.

The Department of Justice has issued a new advisory opinion addressing the unusual situation of how to handle a U.S.-based company that wants to acquire a foreign company found to have paid bribes to government officials prior to the acquisition taking place. In this case, the Justice Department concluded that the U.S.-based company is not in violation of the FCPA. Details inside.

A corruption probe unfolding against Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras took an interesting turn today, when Brazilian federal police carried out a series of raids that resulted in the arrests of eighteen individuals believed to be involved in a widespread money-laundering scheme. In light of the accusations and investigations, Petrobas said, it will need to delay the filing of its third quarter 2014 financial statements. Details inside.

SBM Offshore has reached a $240 million settlement with the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office over improper payments to sales agents and foreign government officials. The company initiated an internal investigation, reported the facts to authorities, and fully cooperated in the investigation. Dutch officials also credited SBM Offshore for taking significant remedial measures to improve its anticorruption compliance policies and procedures and related internal financial controls. The U.S. Department of Justice closed its inquiry into the matter without prosecuting the company. More inside.