All articles by Tom Fox – Page 26
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Blog
Will Olympus see FCPA trouble in China?
Trouble seems to follow Japan-based Olympus. The company, which admitted in 2011 to a $1.7 billion accounting fraud, is once again facing corruption allegations. Olympus hired China-based Anyuanto to help turn it around, despite the fact that Anyuan’s chairman had previously been convicted of fraud; Olympus’ contract wasn’t with Anyuan ...
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The Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick Maker … in Cuba, they are all covered under the FCPA
The winds of change are coming to Cuba, and U.S. businesses are slowly, but surely, beginning to get their long-awaited opportunities to set up shop in one of the world’s last truly socialist states. But this brings with it a most unusual FCPA liability that makes doing business in Cuba ...
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FCPA enforcement ramps up in Q1 2016
If it looks like FCPA enforcement is at a low ebb, judging by the amount of activity we saw in 2015, don’t be fooled. The SEC is prosecuting FCPA cases with vigor, and if some of the current enforcement actions underway are any indicator, we will not see a significant ...
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Brazilian corruption investigation goes supernova
As billionaire construction magnate Marcelo Odebrecht prepares to turn state’s evidence in the corruption investigation that covers Petrobras, Odebrecht SA, and the Brazilian presidency itself, it seems that we might finally get some insight on just how pervasive Brazil’s so-called “cartel of corruption” really was. Is anybody ready to ...
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German World Cup bid now under FIFA scrutiny
The ongoing FIFA corruption scandal takes on new life as some of the top names in German soccer, as well as sports apparel manufacturer Adidas, appear to be implicated in the 2006 World Cup bid. CW’s Tom Fox reports on this latest ethics investigation.
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Is Venezuela’s state oil company creating the next Petrobras scandal?
While Petrobras currently holds the title as the most corrupt national energy company in South America, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) is a strong contender as well, thanks to ongoing U.S. investigations into possible FCPA violations involving U.S. companies, Swiss banks, and corrupt PDVSA officials.
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Is FIFA entitled to restitution as a victim?
Image: It appears the Fédération Internationale de Football Association is trying to shed its corrupt image in favor of playing the victim. The international governing body of football has asked the Justice Department for its share of monies it obtains through forfeiture and penalties from individuals prosecuted around the FIFA ...
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Weekends are for ... fraud?
The recent $101M heist from the Central Bank of Bangladesh would have been impossible had it not occurred over a weekend, and had weekends themselves not been observed on different days of the week in Bangladesh than they are in the United States. One thing’s for sure: Whenever the weekend ...
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Petrobras fallout into the private sector continues
A 19-year prison sentence handed down in connection with Brazil’s widening “Car Wash” scandal is a wake-up call for any company that has done business with Odebrecht SA, the largest construction company in Brazil and, indeed, South America. The scandal, which began with energy firm Petrobras, should enforce that it’s ...
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VimpelCom and the conscious indifference of a board under the FCPA
Image: The joint Justice Dept., SEC settlement with telecom giant VimpelCom resolving a longstanding FCPA violation will cost the company more than $795 million, say reports. But there’s a bright side, says CW Columnist Tom Fox. The multiple bribery schemes seem to have been supported by top management and will ...
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Customers and corruption risks
What is the cost of corruption? How much due diligence must you perform with those entities that are your customers? Does doing business with companies that have a propensity for corruption put your company at risk? In light of the scandals at Petrobras and Houston-based ENSCO, companies might want to ...
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BlogHow Qualcomm’s FCPA blunder involved rank incompetency
Hiring the son or daughter of a government official to secure a lucrative business contract is clearly out of bounds. But hiring somebody who was specifically rejected from an interview process as being unfit for the job in question, a scenario recently played out at Qualcomm and its China-based operations ...
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Run, don't walk, from CEO conflicts of interest
On March 2, Aubrey McClendon—founder and CEO of American Energy Partners, and co-founder, CEO, and chairman of Chesapeake Energy—died in a fiery one-person car crash, where it appears he deliberately drove his vehicle into a concrete barrier around a highway overpass. This car accident occurred the day after he was ...
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Petrobras refinery explosion reveals poor compliance of a different kind
When corruption-plagued Brazilian energy giant Petrobras overpaid for a Houston-area refinery by some $950 million, it raised more than a few eyebrows. And when that refinery suffered a large explosion and fire recently, it showed that failure to practice good safety and failure to practice good business ethics go hand-in-hand.
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Another bank under FCPA scrutiny for its hiring practices
Financial services providers face unique corruption risks when seeking to win business in international markets. This includes a traditional form of back-scratching: the hiring of children or other close family members of prominent foreign officials. Only now the SEC has made it clear that such practices can and will invite ...
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FIFA dribbles up the pitch toward reform
As FIFA continues to battle its landmark corruption scandal, it has elected a new President and passed a series of structural and process reforms to bring the organization into the 21st century and demonstrate to U.S. authorities that it really is going to change from its prior culture. But is ...
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Fighting corruption in the light of day
Image: FIFA isn’t the only major sporting organization with corruption problems. The United States Tennis Association has created a problem for itself by allowing an umpire, who was suspended for corruption, to continue to officiate at the 2015 U.S. Open. Inside, CW’s corruption blogger Tom Fox examines USTA’s reasoning behind ...
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When are campaign contributions FCPA violations?
A recent article in the Financial Times by Simon Kuper, titled “How to buy a foreign election” reminded me that the FCPA specifically makes illegal more than simply bribing a foreign government official or some employed by a state owned enterprise to secure an improper advantage. The FCPA also makes ...
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Justice Department concludes $795M FCPA action against VimpelCom
Image: Dutch telecom giant Vimpelcom will be hit with nearly $800M in fines, penalties, and disgorgement of profits and prejudgment interest from its huge FCPA case where it spent millions to bribe its way into the Uzbekistan marketplace. Tom Fox looks at the details of the Justice Department’s FPCA enforcement ...
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Corruption can give you a very bad few days
Title: Corruption can give you a very You know it is going to be a bad day when you see your company’s name splashed across a BBC investigative report into alleged payment of bribes to secure business contracts. However, your day can get considerably worse when US congressmen, call ...