All FCPA articles – Page 27
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Blog
PTC Could Pay $28.2 Million in FCPA Case
Computer software company PTC disclosed in an annual report last week that it is discussing a tentative $28.2 million settlement with the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve an investigation of potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The potential violations concern expenditures by ...
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Should the FCPA Apply to International Sports Agencies?
Image: What’s happening with the intersection of sports and corruption? It seems as if several pillars of the international sporting world have come crashing down in the past few months through corruption scandals. Yet the FCPA usually does not apply in these corruption cases. Why? Tom Fox, our man from ...
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FIFA as ‘Victim’: Your Response Matters When U.S. Government Pays Visit
Image: One lesson from the FIFA corruption scandal is that when the U.S. government comes knocking, it requires a serious and thoughtful response. So far, now-suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter (left) has responded in a way decidedly not serious and thoughtful. Our anti-corruption blogger Tom Fox takes a closer look ...
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Marrying Compliance Culture to Compliance Behavior
Image: A study by the Cranfield School of Management has identified five key concepts for companies to employ toward effective risk management. In a nutshell: anticipate problems; have adequate resources; flow information to the board; respond quickly to any incidents; and learn from the past. CW’s Tom Fox has more ...
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Walmart FCPA Costs Reach $705 Million
Walmart disclosed this week in an earnings call that its investigation and compliance costs resulting from potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act were approximately $30 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2016, now bringing its total costs to $705 million. To date, the retail giant has ...
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Yates and Caldwell Lay Out Their FCPA Expectations
Image: Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates (left) and Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell talked last week about what they, and more importantly the Justice Department overall, expect from companies that want to receive as much credit as possible when embroiled in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation. What companies should ...
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Jumping on the VW Amnesty Microbus
Image: Last week Volkswagen offered amnesty to employees who admit any role they played in the emissions-testing scandal currently wracking the company—no doubt drawing upon the success Siemens had when it made a similar offer to employees during a 2006 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation. Opinions differ on the move, ...
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On Advertising and the FCPA
Image: When can advertising violate the FCPA? That might not be a question often on the minds of compliance officers. The ongoing FIFA corruption scandal, however, demonstrates that any expenditure going out of a corporation may well need to be considered from an anti-bribery angle. Tom Fox, our Man From ...
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Alstom Sentenced to Pay $772 Million FCPA Fine
U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton of the District of Connecticut has sentenced French power and transportation giant Alstom to pay a record $772 million criminal penalty to the Department of Justice to resolve charges over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The sentence marks the largest criminal fine ...
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Drop in 2015 DOJ FCPA Settlements -- 'Sea Change' or Meaningless?
So far in 2015, the Justice Department has settled just two corporate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases—notably lower than the 10 in 2014, nine in 2013, and 11 in 2012. According to the Wall Street Journal, the decline is due to a “sea change” in the Justice Department’s foreign ...
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Crawford & Company Self-Reports FCPA Investigation
Crawford & Company said yesterday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has launched an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The claims management company also said it has voluntarily self-reported the potential FCPA violations to the SEC and the Department ...
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Blog
Leniency in Petrobras Scandal Means Decision on Self-Disclosure
As the Petrobras corruption scandal moves to the investigation of international companies that did business with the Brazilian national energy company, Europeans companies now face some challenging decisions around the issue of self disclosure. Our Man From FCPA, Tom Fox, has more inside about the considerations you need to make.
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Yates Memo, D&O Coverage, and the Coverage Gap
One consequence of the Yates Memo that has not received as much attention is whether current directors-and-officers liability insurance provides appropriate insurance coverage for the legal expenses incurred by executives who might go through an internal investigation. The answer may well be no; Tom Fox has more inside.
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Alexion Pharmaceuticals Discloses FCPA Probe
Alexion Pharmaceuticals said this week in a securities filing that it is being investigated by the Department of Justice concerning potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. As previously disclosed, Alexion received a subpoena in May in connection with an investigation by the SEC’s Enforcement Division “requesting information related ...
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Dodges Criminal FCPA Enforcement
Image: Last week Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that the Justice Department has decided to prosecute the company for a criminal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. When you look at the facts of the misconduct, a declination seems a bit far-fetched, but our Man From FCPA, Tom Fox, takes a closer look at ...
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The UN, Corruption, and Internal Investigations
Image: Another corrupt scandal hit the United Nations recently. The claim was made that a former General Assembly president had engaged in receiving bribes and other corruption from a Chinese businessman (and perhaps others). Other than yet another embarrassment for the United Nations, the allegations are nothing unusual so far. ...
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Justice Department Ends Bristol-Myers Squibb FCPA Probe
The Department of Justice has ended its investigation into allegations that pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Earlier this month the company reached a $14 million settlement with the SEC for FCPA violations relating to certain sales and marketing practices in China. More inside.
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SEC: First-of-Their-Kind Actions Take the Spotlight in 2015
The Securities and Exchange Commission continued to build a strong record of first-of-their-kind cases that spanned the spectrum of the securities industry, according to the agency’s fiscal year 2015 enforcement report. The SEC filed 807 enforcement actions, obtaining approximately $4.2 billion in disgorgement and penalties—an increase from the 755 enforcement ...
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Sticky Situation: Ill-Gotten Gains From FCPA Violations
Image: One of the continuing myths around FCPA enforcement is so-called “springing liability,” where a company that acquires a business also acquires a FCPA violation along with the purchase. That is not an accurate understanding of the issue, our anti-corruption blogger Tom Fox writes. But it does touch on issues ...
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Cost of Corruption: Now the Short-Sellers Are Here
The costs of corruption come in many forms, not the least being painfully high penalties from regulators and lawsuits from unhappy shareholders. Now a new front has opened: Muddy Waters, a short-seller firm pressuring Swedish telecom company TeliaSonera, is accusing it of bribery in central Asia—and benefitting as the stock ...