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It’s Been A While … DOJ Issues FCPA Opinion Procedure Release

By on August 6, 2009 in Medical Device Industry, Opinion Procedure Release, Product Sample

Thousands of companies face FCPA risks every single day. Many of these companies have legitimate questions as to how its operations in foreign countries could implicate the FCPA. If only there was a procedure in place for companies subject to the FCPA to receive guidance from the DOJ as to its enforcement stance as to particular conduct!

Well … actually there is, but if you haven’t heard about it, don’t feel bad, because the Opinion Procedure Release provisions of the FCPA (15 USC 78dd-1(e)) are often overlooked.

After a year hiatus, (the last opinion was released on July 11, 2008), DOJ has penned Opinion Procedure Release 09-01 (see here).

Given the extent to which the health-care sector has come under FCPA scrutiny, it is not a surprise that the “Requestor” is a “domestic concern” “which designs and manufacturers a specific type of medical device.”

Big picture … the Requestor wants to provide a product sample to a foreign government so that government medical centers can evaluate the product to see if it would be eligible for the government subsidized medical device program. Requestor no doubt was nervous about this given that its competitors were already doing business with the foreign government (whereas Requestor was not) and given that the 100 product samples cost $19,000 each – amounting to a $1.9 million donation.

Based on a number of representations from Requestor, including that none of the product samples would go to government officials, the DOJ stated that it did not intend to take any enforcement action with respect to the proposed conduct because “the proposed provision of 100 medical devices and related items and services fall outside the scope of the FCPA in that the donated products will be provided to the foreign government, as opposed to individual government officials, for ultimate use by patient recipients selected in accordance with specific guidelines …”

Requestor, it would seem, got the certainty it was looking for and can proceed with the arrangement free of FCPA worries.

All of which begs the question … why isn’t the FCPA Opinion Procedure process used more frequently? Common answers often include (i) the opinion expresses only the DOJ’s opinion, but not the SEC’s (obviously relevant to issuers); (ii) the procedure takes too long and the proposed business conduct is time sensitive (note that in 09-01 the Requestor made two supplemental disclosures); and (iii) the Requestor may receive an answer it doesn’t like and thus needlessly raises its FCPA profile.

To read more about the detailed requirements of the FCPA Opinion Procedure process (see here).

FCPA Aches and “Payne”s

By on August 5, 2009 in Argentina, DOJ Enforcement Action, Helmerich and Payne Inc., Non-Prosecution Agreement, Oil and Gas Industry, Permits / Licenses / Customs / Tax, SEC Enforcement Action, Venezuela, Voluntary Disclosure

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (“H&P”) is an international drilling contractor headquartered in Tulsa. It has land and offshore operations in South America. To operate in that region, H&P must import and export equipment and materials. According to the DOJ and SEC, therein lies the problem.

H&P recently settled a DOJ and SEC FCPA enforcement action based on the conduct of two wholly-owned second tier subsidiaries, Helmerich & Payne (Argentina) Drilling Company (“H&P Argentina”) and Helmerich & Payne de Venezuela, C.A. (“H&P Venezuela”).

Pursuant to a two-year DOJ non-prosecution agreement, H&P acknowledged responsibility for the conduct of H&P Argentina and H&P Venezuela in making various improper payments to officials of the Argentine and Venezuelan customs services. According to a DOJ release (see here), the payments “were made in order to import and export goods that were not within regulations, to import good that could not lawfully be imported, and to evade higher duties and taxes on the goods.” Pursuant to the agreement, H&P will pay a $1 million penalty.

In a parallel action, H&P agreed to an SEC settlement under which it agreed to pay approximately $375,000. The SEC cease-and-desist order (“Order”) (see here) finds that: (i) “H&P Argentina paid Argentine customs officials approximately $166,000 to permit the importation and exportation of equipment and materials without required certifications, to expedite the importation of equipment and materials, and to allow the importation of materials that could not imported under Argentine law; and (ii) “H&P Venezuela paid Venezuelan customs officials approximately 19,673 either to permit the importation and exportation of equipment and materials that were not in compliance with Venezuelan importation and exportation regulations or to secure a partial inspection, rather than a full inspection, of the goods being imported.”

According to the Order, the payments were “falsely, or at least misleadingly” described as “additional assessments,” “extra costs,” “extraordinary expenses,” “urgent processing,” “urgent dispatch,” or “customs processing.” The SEC found that as a result of the payments, H&P avoided approximately $320,000 in expenses it would have otherwise incurred had it properly imported and exported the equipment and materials. The subsidiaries’ financial results were included in H&P’s filings with the SEC and, based on the above conduct, the SEC found that H&P violated the FCPA books and records and internal control provisions.

The Order is silent as to H&P’s knowledge of or involvement in the above described payments.

No doubt H&P received an SEC cease and desist order (the least harsh SEC sanction) and a DOJ non-prosecution agreement because of its conduct upon learning of the payments. As described in the Order, during an FCPA training session, an employee voluntarily disclosed some potentially problematic payments, through a customs broker, in Argentina to customs officials. Thereafter, H&P hired FCPA counsel, conducted an internal investigation, and voluntarily reported the conduct at issue to the government.

According to H&P’s Form 8-K filed on July 30, 2009 (see here), “[t]here are no criminal charges involved in the settlements and disciplinary action has been taken by the company with respect to certain employees involved in the matter, including in some cases, termination of employment.” The 8-K also notes that both settlements “recognize the company’s voluntary disclosure, cooperation with both agencies, and its proactive remedial efforts.”

The FCPA … It’s Not Just For Americans

By on August 3, 2009 in DOJ Enforcement Action, Foreign Nationals, Individual Enforcement Action, Iraq, Jurisdiction, Oil for Food Enforcement Action, Ousama Naaman

In 1998, the FCPA’s antibribery provisions were amended to, among other things, broaden the jurisdictional reach of the statute to prohibit “any person” “while in the territory of the U.S.” from making improper payments through “use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce” or from doing “any other act in furtherance” of an improper payment. (see 15 USC 78dd-3(a)). “Any person” is generally defined to include any person other than a U.S. national or any business organization organized under the laws of a foreign nation. (see 15 USC 78dd-3(f)).

Thus, since 1998, and contrary to a still widely-held misperception, foreign nationals can be subject to the FCPA.

Ousama Naaman apparently did not get the memo as the DOJ recently unsealed a criminal indictment charging him with violating the FCPA and conspiracy to violate the FCPA and commit wire fraud. According to a DOJ release (see here) Naaman (a Canadian citizen), acting on behalf of a U.S. public chemical company and its subsidiary, allegedly offered and paid kickbacks to the Iraqi government on five contracts under the United Nations Oil for Food Program. In addition, the indictment alleges that Naaman paid $150,000 on behalf of a U.S. company to Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials to keep a competing product out of the Iraqi market.

This is certainly not the first time a foreign national has been subject to an FCPA enforcement action. Other recent examples include Jeffrey Tesler and Wojciech Chodan (both U.K. citizens criminally indicted for their roles in the KBR / Halliburton bribery scheme)(see here) and Chrisitan Sapsizian (a French citizen who pleaded guilty to violating the FCPA for his role in a scheme to bribe Costa Rican foreign officials) (see here).

Gray Sky Over Nature’s Sunshine As It Settles FCPA Enforcement Action

By on August 1, 2009 in Brazil, Consumer Products Industry, Control Person, Craig Huff, Douglas Faggioli, Executive Enforcement Action, Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc., Permits / Licenses / Customs / Tax, SEC Enforcement Action

Companies have varying degrees of FCPA risks. Generally, at the high-end of the spectrum is a resource extraction company operating in a third-world country with an unstable government. At the low-end of the spectrum, it would seem, is a Utah-based company which got its start as a small family business selling encapsulated cayenne and other herbs to health food stores.

Yet, as evidenced by the SEC’s recent FCPA enforcement action against Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. (“NSP”), even a company with a relatively low FCPA risk profile can run afoul of the FCPA.

As described in the SEC’s Litigation Release (see here) NSP, without admitting or denying the allegations in an SEC civil complaint, agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty to resolve allegations that it violated (among other securities laws – see below) the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records, and internal control provisions.

According to the SEC complaint (see here), Brazil was NSP’s largest foreign market, but in approximately 2000, the Brazilian governmental agency responsible for regulating nutritional products reclassified certain of NSP’s products as medicines, thus requiring a registration process prior to import and sale of the products in Brazil. As alleged in the SEC complaint, NSP’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Brazil (“NSP Brazil”) circumvented the registration process by making approximately $1 million in cash payments to customs brokers, some of which was later used to pay Brazilian customs officials so that they would allow NSP Brazil to import unregistered product into Brazil. According to the SEC, these payments were booked by NSP Brazil as “importation advances,” but without supporting documentation. Thereafter, as alleged by the SEC, NSP Brazil purchased fictitious supporting documentation for the payments.

As suggested above, in addition to the FCPA charges, the SEC complaint also charges other securities laws violations not typically found in an FCPA enforcement action such as fraud in connection with the purchase and sale of securities and false filings with the SEC. These other charges appear to be based on the allegation that NSP, in a prior Form 10-K filing with the SEC, stated that NSP Brazil experienced a significant decline in sales “due to import regulations imposed by the Brazilian government” but which failed to disclose any material information related to the above-mentioned cash payments.

Also charged in the SEC complaint were Douglas Faggioli, the current President and Chief Executive Officer of NSP and a member of its board of directors who during the relevant time period was NSP’s Chief Operating Officer, and Craig Huff, NSP’s former CFO. The complaint alleges that Faggioli and Huff, as “control persons” of NSP, violated the FCPA’s books and records and internal control provisions. In language that is sure to induce a cold sweat for any executive, the SEC generally alleged that both Faggioli and Huff had “supervisory responsibilities” over NSP’s senior management and policies, yet as “control persons,” “failed to make and keep books, records, and accounts, which in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflected the transactions of NSP” and failed to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Faggioli and Huff each agreed to pay a $25,000 civil penalty.

According to an NSP press release (see here) no “current NSP officers, directors, or employees are alleged to have participated in or had knowledge of any of the improper conduct” alleged in the SEC complaint. The press release also notes that NSP voluntarily disclosed the conduct at issue to both the SEC and the DOJ and fully cooperated in the government’s investigation. The press release also states that NSP “anticipates no action by the DOJ” as to the disclosed conduct.

The NSP FCPA enforcement action, and other such enforcement actions against traditionally low FCPA risk companies, should serve notice to all that no industry is immune from FCPA scrutiny.

July Ends With a Bang!

By on July 31, 2009 in Uncategorized

Fireworks don’t just happen in early July.

In the past 24 hours, four separate FCPA enforcement actions have been announced: Helmerich & Payne, Inc., Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. and its CEO Douglas Faggioli and former CFO Craig Huff, Control Components, Inc., and Canadian national Ousama Naaman.

Much more to follow in the coming days …

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