A Closer Look At The DOJ FCPA (And Broader) Enforcement Action Against Various Individuals Associated With Adani Group and Azure Power
As indicated in this prior post, the SEC’s FCPA enforcement action against Cyril Sebastien Dominique Cabanes (“Cabanes” an individual associated with Azure Power – a former U.S. issuer) and the SEC’s securities fraud action against two senior executives of Adani Green (Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani) in connection with an alleged Indian bribery scheme were just one prong of a broader enforcement action announced earlier this week.
As highlighted in this post, the DOJ also announced unsealing of a criminal indictment (originally filed on October 24th) against the following individuals in connection with the same alleged Indian bribery scheme.
SEC Brings First FCPA Individual Action Since 2020
Yesterday, the SEC announced a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Cyril Sebastien Dominique Cabanes (“Cabanes”) – a French citizen and resident of Singapore who was previously a member of the board of directors of Azure Power Global Limited (a Mauritius company with its principal place of business in India). During the time period relevant to the enforcement action, Azure was a publicly traded company with shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Cabanes enforcement action is the first SEC FCPA enforcement action against an individual since October 2020.
FCPA Scrutiny Of Indian Issuers
India based Azure Power Global Limited “is one of India’s leading utility scale renewable energy project developers and operators.”
Earlier this month, the company announced (see here) that, following its review of the determination of the staff of New York Stock Exchange Regulation to delist the Company’s equity shares from trading on the New York Stock Exchange LLC on October 30, 2023, a Committee of the Board of Directors of the NYSE reached a final decision to uphold the delisting determination. On October 31, 2023, the NYSE filed a Form 25 notification of removal from listing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).