All articles by Tom Fox – Page 26
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Blog
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 ...
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€30 million for cup of tea? Good work if you can get it
FCPA blogger Tom Fox looks at an unfolding scandal that involves a murdered Mongolian paramour, a contract for submarines, embattled Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razik, middleman Abdul Razak Baginda, and the most lucrative cup of tea in recent memory.
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SciClone Settles with the SEC on FCPA Enforcement Action
Title: SciClone Settles with the SEC As SciClone Pharmaceuticals settles with the SEC for FCPA violations committed by a Chinese subsidiary, Tom Fox considers how the finer points of granting favors to government officials merits greater compliance scrutiny.
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The Greek Culture of Corruption
Envelopes stuffed with cash and entire industries poised to take action against the first sign of whistleblowing are just two of the hallmarks of the endemic corruption that bedevils the entire Greek economy. What can be done when compliance isn’t just absent in a country, but actively avoided as a ...
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The SAP and Garcia FCPA Enforcement Actions - The Government Speaks, Are You Listening?
As the SEC concludes its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation into suspected illegal activity by former SAP International Vice President of Global and Strategic Accounts Vicente Garcia for bribery and corruption in sales to certain government officials in Panama, we are seeing some clear signs about where FCPA enforcement will ...