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Friday Roundup

By on January 15, 2016 in Chevron, FCPA Inc., Serious Fraud Office, Smith & Ouzman Ltd, Smith and Ouzman Ltd, South Africa, Standard Bank
Roundup2

Scrutiny alert, on cue, across the pond, survey says, and for the reading stack.  It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Scrutiny Alert

According to various Nigerian media reports (here and here):

“A group which goes by the name: Concerned Itsekiri Coastal Dwellers Association, CICDA, has petitioned the United States, US Department of Justice, Criminal Division over alleged fraudulent and corrupt practices by some Delta state government officials with Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL.”

In 2007 ,Chevron agreed to pay $30 million to resolve an FCPA enforcement action in connection with the Iraq Oil for Food program (see here).

On Cue

This prior post analyzed the recent U.K. deferred prosecution agreement against Standard Bank (SB)  – specifically “what” the DPA resolved – and stated:
“Given the allegations and findings, it is curious why SB even voluntarily disclosed the conduct at issue to the SFO, particularly in light of Sec. 7′s adequate procedures defense.
But then again, counsel to SB (like counsel in other FCPA or related internal investigations) no doubt secured substantially more in legal fees by making the disclosure (compared to the other reasonable alternative of not disclosing and remedying any internal control deficiencies) plus the deferred prosecution agreement comes with post-enforcement action compliance obligation. Moreover, counsel achieved name recognition by being the first law firm to represent a Sec. 7 corporate defendant and secure a DPA on behalf of its client. (One can only imagine the speaking opportunities in the future for “how they did it”).”

As if on cue, the law firm that represented SB is currently marketing a seminar about the enforcement action.  The teaser e-mail states:

“Join the legal team who acted on the UK’s first ever Deferred Prosecution Agreement for a breakfast seminar about the process. […] We hope you will join us to hear how this ground-breaking and highly anticipated agreement was arrived at, the pivotal legal points which were discussed, and the key lessons for senior in-house counsel from the process.”

Across the Pond

The U.K. Serious Fraud office recently announced:

“UK printing company Smith and Ouzman Ltd, [previously] convicted of making corrupt payments, was … ordered to pay a total of £2.2 million in a sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court. The conviction and sentence follows a four-year investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The … company, which specialises in security documents such as ballot papers and exam certificates, was convicted in December 2014 under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. The corrupt payments totalling £395,074 were made to public officials for business contracts in Kenya and Mauritania.

The sum broken down included a fine of £1,316,799 as well as £881,158 to satisfy a confiscation order applied for by the SFO and £25,000 in costs. The fine is payable in instalments every six months until the full amount is paid, while the confiscation order must be satisfied within 28 days and the costs paid within six months.

In passing sentence, Recorder Andrew Mitchell QC said:

“Corruption of foreign officials is damaging to the country in which the corruption occurs, is damaging to the reputation of UK business and of course, in the market in which a business operates, it is anti-competitive.”

Director of the SFO, David Green CB QC commented:

“The bribery of foreign officials by UK companies damages this country’s reputation, commercially, politically and ethically. The SFO will pursue such criminal behaviour at both the corporate and individual level.”

Survey Says

According to this recent survey of South Africans conducted by the Ethics Institute of South Africa and sponsored by Massmart, only 22% of respondents believe that it is possible to successfully navigate daily life in the country without paying a bribe.

For the Reading Stack

In a recent article “Four Ways to Improve SEC Enforcement,” Professor Andrew Vollmer (a former Deputy General Counsel of the SEC and former partner in the securities enforcement practice of Wilmer Cutler) touches on some basic rule of law principles that sometimes bear repeating

“The first way to improve SEC enforcement is for the Commission to assert violations of law based only on well established and widely accepted legal principles and not to base claims on new, untested, and extreme legal theories.

[…]

Regulating and enforcing by unelaborated and expanding legal rules raise serious issues for both the private party and the system as a whole. Once the government charges a private party, the person is labeled publicly as a law breaker, even if a small group of knowledgeable practitioners appreciates that the legal theory is new and untested, and faces severe and frequently career or business ending sanctions. The private party must incur the costs, distress, and adverse publicity associated with a defense or succumb and settle, and the pressure to settle is over-powering even when the SEC case lacks merit.

The threats to the overall system are equally grave, and here they come in two forms. First, a federal agency breaks fundamental bonds of trust and accountability in our system of democratic governance when it exceeds its governing law. An Executive Branch agency must take care to stay well within the legal boundaries set by Congress or it acts as lawlessly as those who really violated the securities laws.

Second, enforcement agencies must exercise their power within established rules and precedent so regulated persons know what is required of them and may act accordingly and “so that those enforcing the law do not act in an arbitrary or discriminatory way.” “A fundamental principle in our legal system is that laws which regulate persons or entities must give fair notice of conduct that is forbidden or required.” A charge based on a new agency legal interpretation is essentially a claim against an innocent person. “It is one thing to expect regulated parties to conform their conduct to an agency’s interpretations once the agency announces them; it is quite another to require regulated parties to divine the agency’s interpretations in advance or else be held liable when the agency announces its interpretations for the first time in an enforcement proceeding and demands deference.” An SEC enforcement case based on an interpretation that has not been properly communicated to the public is not valid.

Thus, when the Chair said SEC enforcement should be “aggressive and creative,” she sent the wrong message to her staff. Expansive, untested theories of law to impose liability weaken the SEC’s enforcement efforts, short-change investigations of core misconduct, mistreat the private parties who must respond, and breach a trust between the agency and the country. One way to improve the SEC enforcement process therefore is to reward the staff for recommending cases based on established and accepted legal doctrines and to eschew over-reaching legal positions.

[…]

Another area worth attention is the time SEC investigations take. Potential wrongdoing must be investigated promptly and charges, when justified, must be brought promptly to serve a range of important interests. Avoiding delay during investigations helps deter, uses SEC resources efficiently, reduces uncertainty and costs for private parties, keeps evidence fresh, and promotes finality.

Unfortunately, investigations lasting for many years are the norm.

[…]

Extended investigations disserve the enforcement process and the persons being investigated. The delays increase the costs of defense and the burdens on private parties. Lengthy investigations create uncertainty for both companies and individuals, and uncertainty about the SEC’s plans can harm reputations, stall careers, and postpone financings and investments, research, and product development.

The delays also seriously harm the quality of justice and the SEC’s cases.”

*****

A good weekend to all.

Chevron Decision Touches Upon FCPA Issues

By on March 6, 2014 in Chevron, FCPA Jurisprudence, Foreign Official, Judicial Proceedings, Obtain or Retain Business, Steven Donziger

This 2009 post flagged the “War of Words in Ecuador” between Chevron and plaintiff lawyers representing Ecuadorian villagers alleging environmental contamination at oil fields in the Amazon for its potential FCPA implications.

Earlier this week, as noted in this Wall Street Journal article:

“A federal judge ruled in favor of Chevron … in a civil racketeering case [against New York lawyer Steven Donziger, the plaintiffs’ lawyer], saying a record $9.5 billion environmental judgment in Ecuador against the oil giant was “obtained by corrupt means.”  U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan [S.D.N.Y.] found that … Donziger and his litigation team engaged in coercion, bribery, money laundering and other criminal conduct in pursuit of the 2011 verdict.”

As stated by Judge Kaplan:

“This case is extraordinary. The facts are many and sometimes complex. They include things that normally come only out of Hollywood – coded emails among Donziger and his colleagues describing their private interactions with and machinations directed at judges and a court appointed expert, their payments to a supposedly neutral expert out of a secret account, a lawyer who invited a film crew to innumerable private strategy meetings and even to ex parte meetings with judges, an Ecuadorian judge who claims to have written the multibillion dollar decision but who was so inexperienced and uncomfortable with civil cases that he had someone else (a former judge who had been removed from the bench) draft some civil decisions for him, an 18-year old typist who supposedly did Internet research in American, English, and French law for the same judge, who knew only Spanish, and much more. The evidence is voluminous. The transnational elements of the case make it sensitive and challenging. Nevertheless, the Court has had the benefit of a lengthy trial. It has heard 31 witnesses in person and considered deposition and/or other sworn or, in one instance, stipulated testimony of 37 others. It has considered thousands of exhibits. It has made its findings, which of necessity are lengthy and detailed.”

As relevant to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and any potential FCPA liability of Donziger, Judge Kaplan, beginning at pg. 392 of his mammoth 485-page opinion, addressed Chevron’s assertion that “Donziger violated the Travel Act through the use of facilities of interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to facilitate violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”).”

Judge Kaplan concluded that “[Donziger] did so by using email and by causing money to be wired to Ecuador to further the payment of money to Cabrera, a court appointee [of the Ecuadorian judicial system].”

Judge Kaplan’s decision most squarely addressed the FCPA’s “obtain or retain business” element.  Judge Kaplan stated as follows.

“The SEC and the Department of Justice interpret the FCPA to prohibit payments to court officials and regularly find that such payments satisfy the business purpose test.  [citing to DOJ FCPA enforcement actions against Pride International and Jim Bob Brown].   This court agrees.”

“Here, the payments increased the likelihood that Donziger’s business – that of contingency litigation – would benefit from a favorable judgment. Roughly 30 percent of the 20 percent contingency fee owed to the litigation team accrues to Donziger. He stood to benefit directly from any judgment and, accordingly, from any act that improved the likelihood that such a judgment would issue and its amount. The improper payments to Cabrera were intended to do, and did, exactly that.”

As to “foreign official,” Judge Kaplan stated: “as an expert appointed by the Lago Agrio court, Cabrera was an officer or official of the Ecuadorian court” (citing to an exhibit which stated:  “The Expert [Cabrera] is hereby reminded that he is an auxiliary to the Court for purposes of providing to the process and to the Court scientific elements for determining the truth.”).

As to the “knowledge” component of the FCPA’s third-party payment provisions, Judge Kaplan stated:  “The Court … finds that Donziger was “aware” that it was “substantially certain” that Cabrera would be paid from the funds he wired to the secret account.”

A judicial finding that Donziger engaged in conduct sufficient to establish an FCPA violation is – to state the obvious – a troubling event for him.

In response to Judge Kaplan’s decision, Donziger issued this statement.  In the above-referenced Wall Street Journal article, Donziger is quoted as follows.  “I am a zealous advocate for my clients.  I woud never bribe a judge or perpetrate a fraud … Ultimately I think the Court of Appeals will reverse this decision and whatever damage caused to my reputation will be restored.”

In this press release, Chevron stated, in pertinent part:

“[Judge Kaplan’s decision] finds that Steven Donziger, the lead American lawyer behind the Ecuadorian lawsuit against the company, violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), committing extortion, money laundering, wire fraud, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, witness tampering and obstruction of justice in obtaining the Ecuadorian judgment and in trying to cover up his and his associates’ crimes.  […]  Chevron’s reputation was taken hostage and held for a multibillion-dollar ransom. Rather than give in and pay these criminals off, Chevron exposed the truth. Chevron is pleased with today’s judgment. We are confident that any court that respects the rule of law will likewise find the Ecuadorian judgment to be illegitimate and unenforceable.”

For additional coverage of Judge Kaplan’s decision, see here from the New York Times and here from Reuters.  In addition, this 2013 Wall Street Journal article goes in-depth as to Donziger and the case.

Friday Roundup

By on June 8, 2012 in Angela Aguilar, Chevron, China, DHL, ENI, FCPA Statistics, FCPA Trials, Kazakhstan, Oil and Gas Industry, Permits / Licenses / Customs / Tax, Related Civil Litigation, Third Parties, Wal-Mart

Chevron and others get the front-page treatment, the Aguilar prosecution is officially over as well, some additional FCPA compliance survey data, Wal-Mart civil suits continue to pile up, and Chinese state-owned enterprises continue their global M&A push, it’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Kazakhstan Customs Inquiry

In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Christopher Matthews and Joe Palazzolo broke a story (“Oil Giants Launch Bribe Probes”) about an apparent investigation regarding Kazakh customs issues involving members of Karachaganka Petroleum Operating BV (“KPO”) including Chevron Corp. and Eni SpA, as well as a logistics arm of Deutsche Post AG, DHL, which handles freight shipments for the group.  (For more on KPO see here).  According to tips discussed in the WSJ article, the “KPO joint venture authorized DHL to bribe Kazakh customs officials to ignore paperwork irregularities that could have delayed shipments.”  The WSJ article discusses “the difficult choices companies face operating in developing countries” and notes that, according to a knowledgeable source, when KPO logistics officials ordered DHL representatives to “stop payments to customs officials” in March 2011 the “customs inspectors found problems with virtually very KPO shipment” and “nothing was cleared to pass” until DHL resumed the payments.

Payments in connection with foreign customs, licenses, permits and the like have been fertile ground for FCPA enforcement activity, although as noted in this recent post in connection with Wal-Mart’s potential FCPA exposure, it is an open question in many cases whether the conduct at issue is the type of conduct Congress sought to capture in passing the FCPA.

In 2007, Chevron resolved an enforcement action (here) involving Iraqi Oil for Food conduct and in 2010 Eni (and related entities) resolved an enforcement action (see here for the prior post) involving Bonny Island, Nigeria conduct.  In addition, as highlighted in this recent post, Eni is also reportedly under investigation concerning its conduct in Libya.

Aguilar Conviction Vacated

This recent post highlighted the official end to the Lindsey Manufacturing prosecution.  The prosecution of Angela Maria Gomez Aguilar, who was tried along with the Lindsey defendants, is officially over as well.  As noted in this previous post, Aguilar (a purported agent of Lindsey Manufacturing) was granted a judgment of acquittal after the DOJ’s case as to one substantive count of money laundering, but the jury convicted her of one count of money laundering conspiracy.  After the conviction, Aguilar negotiated an agreement with the DOJ for a time-served sentence and immediate release from custody.  Following Judge Matz’s dismissal of the indictment last December based on numerous instances of prosecutorial misconduct (see here for the prior post), Aguilar obtained an agreement from the DOJ to stipulate to a motion vacating the one count of conviction, an agreement which took effect upon the DOJ’s recent decision not to further pursue its appeal.

As noted in this recent release, Judge Matz this week signed an order vacating Aguilar’s conviction.  In the release, Aguilar’s counsel, Stephen Larson (Arent Fox – here) stated as follows.  “The government overreached in its efforts to press this case.  It is bittersweet whenever a prosecution is terminated for misconduct.  Although Ms. Aguilar is greatly relieved by Judge Matz’s decision to end this ordeal, it is tragic that it was permitted to go this far.  I am pleased that the Department of Justice has recognized as much by opting not to pursue its appeal in this case.”

Kroll’s 2012 FCPA Benchmarking Report

This post discussed recent FCPA survey data.  Add Kroll’s recent FCPA Benchmarking Report (here) to the list.

As noted in the Report, the study was “designed to take the pulse of corporate compliance officers at U.S. based multinationals and to provide benchmarks for the current state of anti-bribery preparedness.”

Survey results that caught my eye include the following.

“Sixty-nine percent of all respondents said their companies were either moderately or highly exposed to bribery risk; this number jumps to 100 percent in the pharmaceutical industry and drops to 46 percent in the financial services industry.  […] 85 percent believe [such risk] will increase or stay the same in the future.”

“Fifty-three percent of respondents said their compliance departments have increased their budgets in the last year; 49 percent said they have increased hiring; and 22 percent said they have experienced a centralization of compliance decision-making.”

“The most frequently cited challenges to anti-bribery compliance include the inability to anticipate regulators’ next moves (21 percent) and ensuring that employee training is taken seriously and is used when a risky situation presents itself (20 percent).”

“Seventy-nine percent of respondents characterized their compliance efforts as a strategic advantage in addition to being a strong defensive tactic.”

“[T]he weakest link among survey respondents was how they handled third party relationships.  While 99 percent of respondents said they had anti-bribery provisions for employees in their companies’ codes of conduct, that number fell to 73 percent when compliance officers were asked about anti-bribery provisions for third parties.  […] The scope of [FCPA risk by using third parties] is exacerbated by the fact that approximately three in four U.S. companies (77 percent) report that they partner with foreign companies to do business abroad.  Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they do business with between 100 and 1,000 third parties; 27 percent said they work with between 1,000 and 10,000 third parties; and 17 percent said they work with between 10,000 and 100,000 different third parties.  A small number said they worked with more than 100,000 different third parties.”

It’s a third-party world.

The Report was based on responses from “139 senior corporate compliance executives from companies ranging in size from $100 million to over $10 billion in revenues per year” who were interviewed by phone from July 2011 to February 2012.  Survey respondents were drawn mainly from four industries:  financial services, IT/telecommunications, energy, and pharmaceuticals.

The report was published by Kroll Advisory Solutions (here), a company that assists clients mitigate and respond to risks, including FCPA issues.

Wal-Mart Civil Suits

One of my earliest Wal-Mart posts (here) noted that not only will the DOJ and SEC likely be examining the conduct of Wal-Mart executives, but so too will plaintiff law firms representing shareholders who will likely scour Wal-Mart’s SEC filings and other statements to the market in bringing derivative claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty and potential Section 10(b) claims based on material omissions concerning Wal-Mart Mexico.

Sure enough.

Wal-Mart’s recent quarterly SEC filing stated as follows.

“The Company is a defendant in several recently-filed lawsuits in which the complaints closely track the allegations set forth in a news story that appeared in the New York Times on April 21, 2012.  One of these is a securities lawsuit that was filed on May 7, 2012 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, in which the plaintiff alleges various violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) beginning in 2005, and asserts violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, relating to certain prior disclosures of the Company. The plaintiff seeks to represent a class of shareholders who purchased or acquired stock of the Company between December 8, 2011, and April 20, 2012, and seeks damages and other relief based on allegations that the defendants’ conduct affected the value of such stock. In addition, eleven derivative complaints were filed in April and May 2012, in Delaware and Arkansas, also tracking the allegations of the Times story, and naming various current and former officers and directors as additional defendants. The plaintiffs in the derivative suits (in which the Company is a nominal defendant) allege, among other things, that the defendants who are or were directors or officers of the Company breached their fiduciary duties in connection with oversight of FCPA compliance. While management cannot predict the outcome of these matters, management does not believe the outcome will have a material effect on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.”

Chinese SOEs

This recent post focused on China SOEs and provided links to data and analysis concerning the ever increasing global push of Chinese SOEs.  Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled “China Buys Overseas Assets” that discusses a recent report from A Capital, a private equity firm based in China and Paris (see here for A Capital’s report).  As indicated in the article, “China’s overseas investment surged in the first quarter [of 2012] to $21.4 billion as state-owned companies snapped up resource-related assets around the globe.”  According to the report, state-owned companies accounted for 98% of all deal value in the first quarter, a new high.

*****

A good weekend to all.

In The News

By on October 5, 2011 in Analogic Corp., Chevron, Koch Industries, Motorola Solutions

On a weekly basis – or so it seems – media allegations surface of corruption by or related to American companies.  This post highlights three such instances.

Koch Industries

Koch Industries Inc., one of the world’s largest privately held companies active in diverse industries, was recently the focus of a wide-ranging article in Bloomberg Markets Magazine (see here).  Among the allegations are those that could implicate the FCPA such as “improper payments to secure contracts in six countries [Algeria, Egypt, India, Morocoo, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia] dating back to 2002, authorized by the business director of the company’s Lock-Glitsch affiliate in France.”  According to the Bloomberg report, the improper payment allegations stem from civil court wrongful termination cases in France

On this site, Koch responds to many of Bloomberg’s claims.  As to the alleged payments implicating the FCPA, Koch does not deny the payments only that the company “uncovered this activity itself terminated all involved and took full responsibility.”

Motorola Solutions

Recently, an Austrian magazine reported that Motorola Solutions Inc. is under investigation by the DOJ and SEC concerning its business conduct in several European countries.  According to a report by Joe Palazzolo (Wall Street Journal Corruption Currents), the “investigation began in 2009 after the company opened its own internal investigation.”   According to the report, part of the investigation and scrutiny concerns the company’s relationship with Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly.

If that name sounds familiar to you, it should. Alfons-Mensdorff-Pouilly is the former BAE agent charged by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office in January 2010 with “conspiring with others to give or agree to give corrupt payments […] to unknown officials and other agents of certain Eastern and Central European governments, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria as inducements to secure, or as rewards for having secured, contracts from those governments for the supply of goods to them, namely SAAB/Gripen fighter jets, by BAE Systems Plc.”  Within days, the SFO dropped the charges in connection with its settlement with BAE (see here for the prior post).  As highlighted in this prior post, the SFO stated that BAE would not agree to its plea deal unless the SFO dropped the charges against Alfons-Mendsdorff-Pouilly.

Analogic Corporation

Recently Analogic Corp., a high-technology, signal- and image-processing company, disclosed in its annual report (here) as follows.  “In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011, we identified certain transactions involving our Danish subsidiary BK Medical, and certain of its foreign distributors, with respect to which we have raised questions concerning compliance with law, including Danish law and the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and our business policies. These have included transactions in which the distributors paid BK Medical amounts in excess of amounts owed and BK Medical transferred the excess amounts, at the direction of the distributors, to third parties identified by the distributors. We have been unable to ascertain with certainty the ultimate beneficiaries or the purpose of these transfers. We have voluntarily disclosed this matter to the Danish Government, the United States Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.”  The company further stated as follows.  “We have terminated the employment of certain BK Medical employees that were involved in the transactions. We have decided to wind down our relationship with certain of the BK Medical distributors, and are evaluating our relationship with certain other of the BK Medical distributors, that were involved in the transactions.”

Successor Liability for Chevron?

This Washington Post article highlights a recent Global Witness report alleging that “Oranto Petroleum paid a bribe to the Liberian legislature in 2007 so that an oil contract would be ratified.”  According to the report, “Chevron Corp. ignored evidence of corruption when it later bought 70 percent of the shares of [Oranto] in 2010.  According to the Global Witness Report, ““despite evidence of this corruption being in the public domain at the time, a large share of the three offshore contracts awarded to Oranto was purchased by Chevron in 2010.”   A copy of the Global Witness Report can be downloaded here.

Potpourri

By on October 14, 2009 in Chevron, Ecuador, Enforcement Agency Policy, SEC

The SEC recently posted on its website (see here) a draft “Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2010-2015” setting forth the Commission’s “mission, vision, values, and strategic goals” for the future.

Part of strategic goal 1 – to “foster and enforce compliance with the federal securities laws” – is a commitment to expand its “coordination efforts with foreign authorities, including […] close cooperation with foreign authorities in investigations relating to […] the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.” (see pg. 16).

While not FCPA specific, a performance metric the SEC intends to use to gauge its progress of “fostering and enforcing compliance with the federal securities laws” is the percentage of enforcement cases successfully resolved (see pg. 17). The SEC notes that “[i]n general, the SEC strives to successfully resolve as many cases as possible, but, at the same time, aims to file large, difficult, or precedent-setting cases when appropriate, even if success is not assured.”

Setting FCPA precedent through the filing of a complaint, even if success is not assured, that is then subject to valid legal defenses based on the statute in a transparent, adversarial proceeding?

Wow, that’s a novel concept and in contrast to the current situation where FCPA “precedent” is set (or at least viewed as being set with the SEC’s encouragement) by the SEC alone through its enforcement program wherein the SEC is both a party and an adjudicator.

****

I previously posted about the “War of Words in Ecuador” (see here)- a post about Chevron’s mammoth legal battle in Ecuador involving allegations of environmental contamination and how the long, messy battle now includes an FCPA component.

The posted ended by saying “this long, messy legal battle is getting more murky by the day.”

As detailed in a recent story in the New York Times (see here) “in recent days the plot has thickened further.”

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