Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson announced Thursday the Department of Justice has determined the company “breached its obligations” under a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) entered with the agency in 2019.

The statement reads, “Ericsson has received correspondence from the DOJ stating that it has determined that Ericsson breached its obligations under the DPA by failing to provide certain documents and factual information, and that Ericsson will have the opportunity to respond in writing to explain the nature and circumstances of such breach, as well as the actions Ericsson has taken to address and remediate the situation.”

“At this stage it is premature to predict the outcome of these developments,” Ericsson added. The company said it will respond to the Justice Department and continue cooperating, including regarding production of documents.

In December 2019, Ericsson entered a $1 billion settlement with U.S. authorities to resolve an investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that spanned 17 years and several geographies and involved high-level executives. The DPA with the Justice Department included the imposition of an independent compliance monitor (Andreas Pohlmann) for a period of three years.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal, enforcement, technology, and more.

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