FCPA trends often are relatively easy to describe and often overblown as a marketing technique by the usual cast of paparazzi suspects.  (Self-proclaimed prognosticators that often push incorrect themes to promote business, or those that restate profound grasps of the obvious).  2023 has been a strange year in a number of respects — socially, politically and even in the small universe of DOJ enforcement and...

Ericsson is having a tough time.  First, in 2019, Ericsson settled FCPA charges with the Justice Department and the SEC for a total of $1 billion (with a B).  Second, Ericsson had an independent compliance monitor appointed for a three-year term under its deferred prosecution agreement.  And then — last year, Ericsson was notified by DOJ that it failed to conduct a proper internal investigation...

Even though the size of the KT Corp. SEC enforcement action is relatively small, the underlying misconduct provides a number of important lessons learned. Let’s look at some of the most significant lessons learned: C-Suite Misconduct: KT’s slush fund was executed by a High-Level executive at KT Corp. and was funded through inflated bonus payments made to executives.  Each executive returned the over-payment to the...

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...

FCPA practitioners, In-house counsel and compliance officers, and yes, even the FCPA Paparazzi, have been patient enough. As the saying goes, talk is cheap.  It is action that counts. We have written often enough about the coming storm – the Biden Administration’s long-anticipated ramp up of white collar enforcement, and FCPA actions in particular.  The groundwork was set – the National Security Memorandum raising the...

Beam Suntory, a global producer and distributor of distilled beverages, settled its FCPA case with DOJ for $19.5 million for bribes paid in India.  The DOJ settlement follows an SEC FCPA settlement for $8 million announced on July 2, 2018.  The timing of the FCPA settlements is unusual and suggests that DOJ’s resolution involved unique issues relating to Beam Suntory’s cooperation.  The SEC resolution was...

J&F’s Investimentos bribery scheme was pervasive and was coordinated with a senior Brazilian Finance minister and orchestrated through the use of United States banking.  The Brazilian official appears to be Guido Mantega, who went on to serve as Brazil’s finance minister. Given J&F’s large penalty in Brazil, DOJ’s resolution was reasonable in light of the consistent use of the US banking system to execute the...