Oracle Corporation settled its second FCPA case in ten years. Oracle agreed to pay $23 million to resolve allegations that its subsidiaries in Turkey, India and the United Arab Emirates maintained slush funds to bribe foreign officials. Ten years ago in 2012, Oracle paid the SEC $2 million creating millions of dollars in off-the-books accounts at its India subsidiary. Oracle agreed to pay $8 million...
The SEC announced the first FCPA enforcement action in 2022. South Korean telecommunications company, KT Corporation, agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle FCPA violations. As part of the settlement, KT Corp. agreed to pay $3.5 million in civil penalties and $2.8 million in disgorgement. KT Corp. is South Korea’s largest telecommunications company. KT Corp. violated the FCPA’s books and records and internal accounting controls provisions...
When you look under the hood of FCPA enforcement actions, the schemes employed by corporate actors can be shocking. The “creativity” of bad actors can provide important lessons learned and help future investigators when trying to unearth bribery schemes. At the root of most schemes is brazen arrogance and rationalization of otherwise improper behavior. South Korea From 2009 to 2017, KT high-level executives maintained slush...
The SEC announced its first FCPA enforcement action in 2022. South Korean telecommunications company, KT Corporation, agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle FCPA violations. As part of the settlement, KT Corp. agreed to pay $3.5 million in civil penalties and $2.8 million in disgorgement. KT Corp. is South Korea’s largest telecommunications company. KT Corp. American Depositary Shares are traded on the New York Stock...
The SEC’s FCPA enforcement action against WPP presents a number of important lessons learned, ranging from third-party risk management, properly responding to employee complaints and red flags, and failure to integrate acquisition targets into existing compliance programs. At bottom, WPP and its subsidiaries lacked any culture of compliance. While it is easy to cite all the deficiencies in the WPP subsidiaries, such a focus misses...
Notwithstanding the pandemic and remote working arrangements, the Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing to bring FCPA enforcement actions. In its latest action, the SEC settled with Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $21 million for foreign bribery and books and records violations. Alexion is a global pharmaceutical company. Its first drug, Soliris was approved to treat two ultra-rare diseases, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (“PNH”), which causes red blood...
Last week, the Justice Department announced its first FCPA enforcement action in 2018 – a follow-on settlement from prior FCPA enforcement actions centering on a bribery scheme involving a Russian government official from a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation. Three individuals have been charged in connection with the bribery scheme. Transport Logistics International, a Maryland company, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and...
The SEC, last week, announced its $5 million settlement with Key Energy. As always, FCPA settlements contain important examples of enforcement priorities and policies. Key Energy’s recent settlement is an example of the benefits of cooperation, especially when a company, like Key Energy, did not initiate the investigation by disclosing the matter to the government. Key Energy agreed to a books and records and internal...
The SEC has been flexing its muscles lately. If you had some of the enforcement tools the SEC has, you would be doing the same. What am I referring to? The FCPA statute includes broad provisions requiring companies to maintain adequate internal controls and accurate books and records. If taken literally, these prohibitions can be applied to many situations to support aggressive SEC enforcement actions....
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet included this often used phrase – hoist with his own petard (a small bomb). Shakespeare never knew that his eloquence would apply to today’s SEC enforcement of internal controls. The FCPA requires companies to make and keep accurate books and records and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. The FCPA also prohibits individuals and businesses from knowingly...
