NCR, an automated-teller machine company, recently announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to recommend an enforcement action against it in connection with a previously disclosed investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  

In 2012, NCR said it received anonymous allegations from a whistleblower regarding certain aspects of its business practices in China, the Middle East, and Africa. The allegations related to the company’s compliance with the FCPA and federal regulations that prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in certain activities in Syria. 

NCR said it voluntarily notified the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of these potential violations in Syria and ceased operations there. The company said the notification related to “confusion” stemming from NCR’s failure to register in Syria the transfer of the company’s Syrian branch to a foreign subsidiary and to deregister the company’s legacy Syrian branch, which was a branch of NCR.

NCR said it “has applied for and received from OFAC various licenses that have permitted the company to take measures required to wind down its past operations in Syria. The company also submitted a detailed report to OFAC regarding this matter, including a description of the company’s comprehensive export control program and related remedial measures.”

Furthermore, NCR said that it notified the SEC and Department of Justice of the whistleblower’s FCPA allegations, “advising the government that many of these allegations were unsubstantiated,” the company said. The company consequently responded to subpoenas from the SEC and requests for documents and information by the Justice Department.

Through its internal investigation, NCR said it has identified a “few opportunities” to strengthen its FCPA compliance program, and it “continues to evaluate and enhance its compliance program as appropriate.”

With respect to the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation, NCR said only that it has responded to the agency’s most recent request for documents in 2014.  

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