All FCPA articles – Page 32
-
Blog
Dun & Bradstreet Discloses FCPA Investigation Costs
Dun & Bradstreet, a commercial data and analytics provider, disclosed in a recent securities filing that it spent slightly more this time around than the same period last year on costs associated with its China investigation into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Details inside.
-
Blog
JPMorgan’s Laundry List of Government Probes
JPMorgan disclosed last week in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is under several investigations concerning a wide variety of claims, including violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, foreign exchange sales, LIBOR, and much more. “Investigations involve both formal and informal proceedings by both ...
-
Article
Throwing Books & Records at ’Em
Image: Compliance officers responsible for accurate books and records and effective internal control over financial reporting may be entering a brave new world of regulatory enforcement. The SEC is stepping up its use of administrative proceedings to impose strict liability on even relatively minor infractions of securities law. “The SEC ...
-
Blog
Braskem Self-Reports FCPA Probe
Brazil-based petrochemical giant Braskem has launched an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Braskem said it is investigating allegations that two of its former executive officers made improper payments from 2006 to 2012 to Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras, in exchange for raw-material supply agreements. ...
-
Article
The Multimillion Dollar Question: When to Self-Report?
Image: The mantra from regulators when uncovering potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is clear: self-report early and often. Still, companies might want to take a more nuanced approach to that decision, and some legal voices maintain that occasionally shareholders are best served by staying silent. “Right now, ...
-
Blog
UTC Gets Second Subpoena in Bribery Probe
United Technologies Corp. has disclosed that it received a second subpoena from the SEC for potential violations of anti-bribery laws. UTC said the SEC issued the subpoena “seeking documents related to internal allegations of alleged violations of anti-bribery laws from UTC’s aerospace and commercial businesses, including but not limited ...
-
Article
Cleaning Up FCPA Cases That Spill Into Litigation
Image: Companies under investigation for possible violations of the FCPA have more than enforcement action to worry about; they must be prepared to fend off shareholder lawsuits as well. That requires some careful strategy about how to investigate FCPA allegations and document them. “I can’t tell you how often I ...
-
Blog
Lockheed Wants Out of 40-Year-Old Disclosure Demand
Lockheed Martin wants a federal judge to end a 40-year-old SEC requirement of advance notice for changes to its anti-bribery policies. Lockheed argues that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, FCPA requirements, and a move to online shareholder information make the requirement obsolete and unnecessary. More inside.
-
Blog
FLIR Systems Settles FCPA Charges for $9.5 Million
Thermal imaging manufacturer FLIR Systems has reached a $9.5 million settlement with the SEC to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by financing what an employee termed a “world tour” of personal travel for government officials in the Middle East who played key roles in decisions ...
-
Blog
Justice Department Extends Biomet DPA
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. ...
-
Article
Petrobras Probe Portends Brazil Enforcement Crackdown
Image: Suddenly anti-corruption enforcement seems to be serious in Brazil—to the point that businesses working there might want to pay more heed to enforcement risks from Brazilian regulators themselves. The catalyst is the sweeping investigation into state-owned oil company Petrobras, riveting Brazil this month. “We can expect much more enforcement ...
-
Blog
SEC’s Ceresney: Common FCPA Violations in Pharma Industry
Image: 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.
-
Blog
Akamai Self-Reports FCPA Probe
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.
-
Article
Internal Controls, Audit Committees Primed for SEC Scrutiny
Every February SEC officials convene at the Practising Law Institute’s “SEC Speaks” conference, where commissioners can break news and staff can detail priorities for the New Year. The focus this year, from rulemaking to enforcement, was on financial reporting internal controls, and ways to improve audit committees. And, of course, ...
-
Blog
General Cable Sets Aside $24 Million for Angola Bribes
General Cable said this week in a regulatory filing that it has set aside an estimated charge of $24 million that it believes the Securities and Exchange Commission likely will disgorge from profits derived from sales tainted by improper payments made in Angola. In September, the maker of copper, aluminum, ...
-
Blog
Goodyear to Pay $16 Million for FCPA Violations
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has reached a $16 million settlement with the SEC to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when its subsidiaries paid bribes to land tire sales in Kenya and Angola. Goodyear neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings. Details inside.
-
Blog
Eli Lilly: Justice Department Drops FCPA Probe
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 ...
-
Blog
AG Nominee Loretta Lynch on FCPA Enforcement
Image: Anyone curious about where attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch stands on enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act now has a lot of reading material. Lynch answered a host of written questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving her views on the Justice Department’s current level of transparency, the ...
-
Blog
Flowserve Uncovers Potential FCPA Violations
Flowserve said this week in a securities filing that it has discovered potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The developer of valves and pumps said that it has uncovered actions involving an employee based in an overseas subsidiary that violated its Code of Business Conduct, and may have ...
-
Blog
Video: What it Looks Like When Your GC is Wearing a Wire
In April, the criminal trial of former PetroTiger CEO Joseph Sigelman for alleged violations of the FCPA will begin in federal court in Camden, New Jersey. Prosecutors allege that Sigelman bribed a Colombian official at Ecopetrol SA, a state-run energy company, to win a contract for PetroToiger. The WSJ reports ...