Keppel Offshore & Marine Resolves Net $105.5 Million FCPA Enforcement Action Based On Brazil Bribery Schemes
Do not finalize those 2017 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act statistics just yet. Similar to prior years, late December has become an active time for FCPA enforcement.
Yesterday, the DOJ announced a net $105.5 million enforcement action against Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (a Singapore-based company which describes itself as a “global leader in offshore rig design, construction and repair, ship repair and conversion, and specialised shipbuilding”) and Keppel Offshore & Marine USA Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary based in Texas).
Friday Roundup
Former SEC FCPA Unit Chief Kara Brockmeyer on declinations and voluntary disclosure, Wal-Mart’s global chief ethics and compliance officer on increased standardization in global anti-corruption efforts, scrutiny updates, French first, and for the reading stack.
It’s all here in the Friday Roundup.
Former SEC FCPA Unit Chief Kara Brockmeyer On Declinations and Voluntary Disclosure
Brockmeyer is profiled in this recent Corporate Crime Report Q&A. (See here for a recent FCPA Flash podcast with Brockmeyer).
A Focus On Third-Party Practices
Navex Global recently released this report titled “2017 Ethics and Compliance Third-Party Risk Management Benchmark Report.” I am always a bit skeptical of such survey data given that the results often seem to dovetail nicely with the product offering of the company publishing the survey. Indeed, a section of the report is titled “About Navex Global’s Third-Party Risk Management Solution.”
Moreover, I often wonder whether such surveys are even statistically valid. For instance, the survey was based on 427 survey respondents, with approximately 40% of respondents coming from large companies, and approximately 15% of respondents coming from the banking/financial services.
In any event, as highlighted below there are certain survey findings which caught my eye.
The Challenges Of Detection And Prevention
The recent Sutherland Springs church massacre. The recent New York City bike path attack. Before that, the bridge attack in London. Before that, the shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport. Before that, the shooting at an Orlando nightclub.
These recent instances, and several other similar acts of violence, have little in common with alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offenses.
Except there is often a common thread in terms of the challenges of detection and prevention.
Deputy AG Rosenstein – “We Should Never Use The Threat Of Federal Enforcement Unfairly To Extract Settlements”
Yet another speech by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to pass along (see here and here for other recent speeches).
Yesterday, Rosenstein deliver this morning keynote address at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. Among other things, Rosenstein stated: “Corporate enforcement and settlement demands must always have a sound basis in the evidence and the law. We should never use the threat of federal enforcement unfairly to extract settlements.”
Was this merely an unobjectionable forward-looking statement or perhaps a subtle criticism of the Obama administration during which certain people felt that the DOJ often did just that? For instance, see here for a prior post highlighting former Deputy AG David Ogden’s speech criticizing the DOJ’s leverage-based enforcement approach as well as this FCPA Flash podcast episode during which Ogden further elaborates on the issues.