- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Adrianne Appel2024-08-26T15:47:00
A former trader at the U.S. affiliate of energy giant Vitol pleaded guilty to bribing officials at Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) in an effort to secure contracts.
The guilty plea of Javier Aguilar is just one outcome of the long-running criminal investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) into bribery-related corruption at Vitol concerning energy sales to Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico between 2017 and 2020, the agency said in a press release Thursday.
Vitol, the largest energy trading company in the world, admitted in December 2020 that its employees bribed officials in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico. It entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, including the payment of $135 million in penalties and implementing a corporate compliance program to detect criminal misconduct.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT. To continue reading, choose one of the options below.
News and analysis for the well-informed compliance or audit exec. Select an option and click continue.
Annual Membership $499 Value offer
Full price one year membership with auto-renewal.
Membership $599
One-year only, no auto-renewal.
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission fined TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading $48 million for allegedly engaging in price manipulation, with Commissioner Carolyn Pham defending a compliance officer at the Swiss energy company accused of making false statements.
The value the Department of Justice places on cooperation can be measured by studying penalties and agreements resulting from the agency’s long-running investigation into bribery and corruption by oil traders operating in Latin America and Africa.
The CFTC’s recent fine ladled onto a DOJ investigation into foreign corrupt practices by Swiss energy trader Vitol S.A. should force companies with any exposure in the commodities market to reexamine their risk profiles, experts say.
USAA Federal Savings Bank has been hit with its third cease and desist order from the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the past five years for failing to correct unsafe and unsound banking practices.
Becton Dickinson medical device company will pay $175 million for “repeatedly” misleading investors about its Alaris infusion pump, a product the company knew was flawed and was sold without the required patient-safety approvals, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged bankrupt fashion retailer Express with failing to disclose nearly $1 million in perks to a former chief executive, but did not levy a financial penalty thanks to its cooperation, the SEC said.
