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The First Time Baker Hughes Resolved An FCPA Enforcement Action

By on March 30, 2017 in Baker Hughes, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Merger Issues, Oil and Gas Industry, Permits / Licenses / Customs / Tax, Repeat Offenders, SEC Enforcement Action
bakerhughes

[This post is part of a periodic series regarding “old” FCPA enforcement actions]

As highlighted in this prior post, in 2001 KPMG Siddharta Siddharta & Harsono (KPMG-SSH) and Sonny Harsono resolved a joint DOJ/SEC civil FCPA enforcement regarding alleged improper payments in connection with an Indonesia tax assessment.

As detailed in the prior post, it was a unique FCPA enforcement action at the time (believed to be the first time the DOJ/SEC had ever brought an FCPA action against a professional services firm – i.e. a law firm or accounting firm) and still remains unique in that the DOJ/SEC are believed to have never again brought an FCPA enforcement action against a professional services firm. As further detailed in the prior post, KPMG-SSH was an agent of Baker Hughes and thus it was not surprising that a related FCPA enforcement action against Baker Hughes soon followed.

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FCPA Flash Podcast – A Conversation With Sherbir Panag Regarding Compliance In India

By on February 14, 2017 in FCPA Flash, India, Permits / Licenses / Customs / Tax
FCPA Flash

The FCPA Flash podcast provides in an audio format the same fresh, candid, and informed commentary about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related topics as readers have come to expect from written posts on FCPA Professor.

This FCPA Flash episode is a conversation with Sherbir Panag (founding partner of the Law Offices of Panag & Babu and manager of the firm’s New Delhi office). In the podcast, Panag: addresses the question of whether doing business in India is possible without paying bribes; talks about the “bribery panic” that often results in India; discusses how companies can best navigate India’s “Licence Raj”; and provides advice for how companies can “Indianise” FCPA compliance programs.

Any lawyer or compliance professional with clients doing business in India would be well-served by listening to the podcast.

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Across The Pond, Rolls-Royce Also Resolves A $625 Million U.K. Enforcement Action

By on January 30, 2017 in 2017 Enforcement Actions, Bidding Issues, China, Due Diligence, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Related Foreign Investigations, Rolls-Royce, Russia, Serious Fraud Office, Statute of Limitations, Thailand, Third Parties, Travel and Entertainment, U.K. Bribery Act
Rolls

This recent post went in-depth into the $170 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Rolls-Royce. As mentioned in the post, the FCPA enforcement action against Rolls-Royce was part of a broader $800 million global resolution that also included a U.K. Serious Fraud Office component as well as Brazil law enforcement action.

The approximate $625 million U.K. enforcement action comprised the bulk of $800 million global resolution (that would seem to make sense, Rolls-Royce is after all a U.K. company) and is summarized below including the several failure to prevent bribery counts under the Bribery Act.

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The First FCPA Enforcement Action Of 2017 Is A $13 Million Joke

By on January 9, 2017 in 2017 Enforcement Actions, India, Kraft, Mondelēz International, Permits / Licenses / Customs / Tax, SEC Enforcement Action, Successor Liability
mondelez

On Friday, the SEC announced the first Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action of 2017 against Mondelēz International, Inc.

The basic findings in this short administrative action are the following: (i) in February 2010, Kraft Foods (which re-named itself Mondelez International in 2012) acquired Cadbury (a U.K.-based confectionary and snack beverage company that had securities registered with the SEC) and its subsidiaries, including Cadbury India; (ii) in early 2010 Cadbury India retained an agent to interact with Indian government officials to obtain licenses and approvals for a chocolate factory; (iii) Cadbury India failed to conduct appropriate due diligence on and monitor the activities of the agent which “created the risk” that funds paid to the agent (approximately $100,000) could be used for improper or unauthorized purposes and (iv) Cadbury’s India’s books and records did not accurately and fairly reflect the natures of the services rendered by the agent.

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Mondelez agreed to pay a $13 million civil penalty.

This enforcement action is a complete joke (as is the fact that the scrutiny began in February 2011).

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Friday Roundup

By on December 9, 2016 in Biomet, CEMEX, Disgorgement, FCPA Sentences, Hiring Family Members of Foreign Officials, India, JPMorgan, Jurisdiction, Och-Ziff Capital Management, Samuel Mebiame, SEC, Teva Pharmaceuticals
Roundup

Guilty plea, scrutiny alerts and updates, SEC Director of Enforcement to leave, sound analysis of the JPMorgan enforcement action, and for the reading stack.

It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Mebiame Guilty Plea

As highlighted in this previous post, in August 2016 the DOJ unsealed a criminal complaint charging Samuel Mebiame, a Gabonese national connected to Och-Ziff, with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions. In pertinent part, the complaint alleged that Mebiame, on behalf of Och-Ziff and related entities, routinely paid bribes to foreign government officials in at least each Niger, Guinea and Chad.”

Today, the DOJ announced that Mebiame pleaded guilty.

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