A Focus On SEC Individual Actions

There were no SEC individual FCPA enforcement actions against individuals in 2025.

However, as highlighted below, 2025 was hardly unique as there was just 2 individual SEC FCPA enforcement against individuals in 2024 and this was preceded by  a 4 year gap in SEC individual FCPA enforcement actions.

Perhaps relevant to SEC FCPA enforcement in 2025 is that there was an approximate 40 day government shutdown impacting SEC enforcement. In addition, and often ignored, the SEC does not have jurisdiction over many companies – relatively speaking – only so-called “issuers” (FCPA speak for publicly traded companies or those with reporting obligations to the SEC). As highlighted in this recent post, the number of “issuers” has significantly declined over the last twenty years (approximately 4,700 exchange-listed companies now compared to a high point of approximately 7,800 in 2007).

Since 2000, the SEC has charged or found that 88 individuals violated the FCPA.  The breakdown is as follows.

• 2000 – 0 individuals
• 2001 – 3 individuals
• 2002 – 3 individuals
• 2003 – 4 individuals
• 2004 – 0 individuals
• 2005 – 1 individual
• 2006 – 8 individuals
• 2007 – 7 individuals
• 2008 – 5 individuals
• 2009 – 5 individuals
• 2010 – 7 individuals
• 2011 – 12 individuals
• 2012 – 4 individuals
• 2013 – 0 individuals
• 2014 – 2 individuals
• 2015 –  2 individuals
• 2016 – 8 individuals
• 2017 – 3 individuals
• 2018 – 3 individuals
• 2019 – 6 individuals
• 2020 – 3 individuals
• 2021 – 0 individuals
• 2022 – 0 individuals
• 2023 – 0 individuals
• 2024 – 2 individuals
• 2025 – 0 individuals

Of the 75 individuals charged with civil FCPA offenses by the SEC since 2006:

• 7 individuals were in the Siemens case;
• 4 individuals were in the ABB case;
• 4 individuals were in the Willbros Group case;
• 4 individuals were in the Alliance One case;
• 4 individuals were in the Och-Ziff case;
• 3 individuals were in the Maygar Telekom case; and
• 3 individuals were in the Noble Corp. case.
• 3 individuals were in the Cognizant Technologies case.

In other words, approximately 45% of the individuals charged by the SEC with FCPA civil offenses since 2006 have been in just 8 core actions.

Considering that there has been 190 corporate SEC FCPA enforcement actions since 2006, this is a rather remarkable statistic.  Of the 190 corporate SEC FCPA enforcement actions, 156 (82%) have not resulted in any related SEC charges against company employees.

This is an interesting figure given that between 1977 and 2004, 61% of SEC corporate FCPA enforcement actions did indeed result in related charges against company employees.

In other words, for most of the FCPA’s history the majority of corporate SEC FCPA enforcement resulted in related individual accountability, but in the SEC’s modern FCPA enforcement program, the vast majority of corporate SEC FCPA enforcement actions have not resulted in related individual accountability despite the SEC’s rhetoric.

It is also interesting to analyze the 34 instances since 2006 where an SEC corporate FCPA enforcement action resulted in related charges against company employees.   With the exception of Baker Hughes, Siemens, KBR/Halliburton, Magyar Telekom, Och-Ziff, General Cable, Panasonic, Goldman, Herbalife, and AAR the corporate SEC FCPA enforcement actions resulting in related charges against company employees occurred in what can only be described as relatively minor (at least from a settlement amount perspective) corporate enforcement actions.

These actions are:  Schnitzer Steel, Immucor, Electronic Data Systems, Faro Technologies, Willbros Group, Nature’s Sunshine Products, United Industrial Corp., Pride Int’l., Noble Corp., Alliance One, Innospec, Watts Water, PBSJ and FLIR Systems, SAP, PTC, Nordion, Analogic, and LAN Airlines, Halliburton, SQM, Cognizant and Westport Fuel.