Telecommunications company Ciena disclosed in its latest annual report that the Department of Justice advised the company that it has decided not to file any charges against it in connection with a previously disclosed investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
As Compliance Week previously reported, Ciena first disclosed in an annual report last year that “during fiscal 2017, one of Ciena’s third-party vendors raised allegations about certain questionable payments to one or more individuals employed by a customer in a country in the ASEAN region.”
Neither last year’s annual report nor this year’s annual report expounds on the details. Member states of the ASEAN region are Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos, and Brunei.
In both annual reports, Ciena said it “promptly initiated an internal investigation into the matter, with the assistance of outside counsel” to determine whether the payments may have violated applicable laws and regulations, including the FCPA.
Ciena said it voluntarily contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice in September 2017 to advise them of the relevant events and the findings of Ciena’s internal investigation.
In its latest annual report, Ciena said the Department of Justice on Dec. 10, 2018, “advised that it has declined to prosecute this matter and that its investigation into the matter is now closed. Ciena continues to cooperate fully with the SEC in its investigation into this matter.”
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