EADS Archives - FCPA Professor

Friday Roundup

By Mike Koehler on August 30, 2013 in Double Standard, EADS, Foreign Issuers, Hiring Family Members of Foreign Officials, Industry Sweeps, JPMorgan, PetroChina, ThyssenKrupp, Vision-China Media

Scrutiny updates and alerts, a double standard, upcoming events, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Scrutiny Updates and Alerts

JPMorgan

In this initial post concerning JPMorgan’sFCPA scrutiny in China I noted that hiring the son or daughter of an alleged “foreign official” is not inherently illegal, absent certain red flags.

In this recent article, Bloomberg reports on the existence of a potential red flag. The article states:

“A probe of JPMorgan’s hiring practices in China has uncovered red flags across Asia, including an internal spreadsheet that linked appointments to specific deals pursued by the bank, people with knowledge of the matter said. […] The bank has opened an internal investigation that has flagged more than 200 hires for review, said two people with knowledge of the examination, results of which JPMorgan is sharing with regulators. The scrutiny began in Hong Kong and has now expanded to countries across Asia, looking at interns as well as full-time workers, two people said. The employees include influential politicians’ family members who worked in JPMorgan’s investment bank, as well as relatives of asset-management clients, the people said. […] The spreadsheet, which links some hiring decisions to specific transactions pursued by the bank, may be viewed by regulators as evidence that JPMorgan added people in exchange for business, according to one person with knowledge of the review.”

The article also notes that the DOJ has joined the SEC in the probe.

In this article, the New York Times reports:

“The [JPMorgan hiring] program was originally called “Sons and Daughters.” And although it was supposed to protect JPMorgan Chase’s business dealings in China, the program went so off track that it is now the focus of a federal bribery investigation in the United States, interviews and a confidential government document show. JPMorgan started the program in 2006 as the friends and family of China’s ruling elite were clamoring for jobs at the bank, according to the interviews with former bank employees and financial executives in China and the United States. The program’s existence, which has not been previously reported, suggests that the bank’s hiring of such employees was widespread. Saying they wanted to weed out nepotism and avoid bribery charges in the United States, JPMorgan employees in Asia started the program to hire well-connected candidates on a separate track from ordinary applicants, the employees and executives said. Without the program and its heightened scrutiny of the candidates, the employees argued, JPMorgan might improperly hire the children of Chinese officials to win business. But in the months and years that followed, the two-tiered process that could have prevented questionable hiring practices instead fostered them, according to the interviews as well as the confidential government document. Applicants from prominent Chinese families, interviews show, often faced few job interviews and relaxed standards. While many candidates met or exceeded the bank’s requirements, some had subpar academic records and lacked relevant expertise.”

According to this Wall Street Journal article, there is now a full-fledged industry sweep of hiring practices. The article states:

“U.S. authorities are questioning numerous banks and hedge funds on their international hiring practices for interns and other employees, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are seeking information to determine if there have been any violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act …”.

Vision-China Media

JPMorgan’s scrutiny is focused on the alleged hiring of relatives of alleged Chinese “foreign officials” into non-executive positions.

That’s one thing.

It is quite another when the CEO of an issuer under the FCPA “is the daughter-in-law of a senior figure in the Chinese Communist Party.”

As detailed in this Wall Street Journal article, this is the situation at Vision-China Media, a company with shares traded on NASDAQ. As noted in the article, “how many Chinese companies listed in the U.S. enjoy political ties is unknown. That makes it all but impossible to quantify whether and how such relationships might dictate a business’s profitability or stock-market performance.”

PetroChina

Various outlets (see here for the Wall Street Journal article) have reported that three senior executives of PetroChina “are under investigation by authorities for ‘severe disciplinary violations’ and have resigned.” The article notes that “while neither PetroChina nor its parent [company China National Petroleum Corp.] have released specifics of the probes, the phrase ‘severe disciplinary violations’ is typically used by Chinese officials when investigating cases of corruption.”

The interesting thing about this of course is that PetroChina executives are – in the eyes of the enforcement agencies – “foreign officials” under the FCPA while at the same time being executives of an issuer subject to the FCPA given that PetroChina’s ADRs trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

EADS / ThyssenKrupp

Reuters reports here:

“A joint venture of EADS and ThyssenKrupp and offices of Rheinmetall were raided this week in Germany on suspicion of paying bribes related to an order of submarine equipment from Greece, a spokesman for the state prosecutor in Bremen said on Saturday. The Atlas Elektronik joint venture and Rheinmetall Defence Electronics were searched as they are suspected of paying 18 million euros ($24 million) in bribes and of avoiding taxes, the prosecutor’s spokesman said. […] EADS and ThyssenKrupp both confirmed the raid on their unit, which they bought from BAE Systems. […] ThyssenKrupp said it had discovered the matter itself “as part of a compliance investigation” and notified the authorities in 2010 about it.”

Although neither EADS or ThyssenKrupp have shares traded on a U.S. exchange, the shares of both companies trade “over-the-counter” in the U.S. In the FCPA Guidance, the DOJ and SEC state – “any company with a class of securities quoted in the over-the-counter market in the United States and required to file periodic reports with SEC, is an issuer.” A certain other FCPA enforcement action (see here) began with a raid on offices by German law enforcement authorities.

In other raid news.

BSGR-Related

Reuters reports (here):

“Swiss police on Thursday searched the Geneva offices of Onyx Financial Advisors, a company providing management services for BSGR, the mining arm of Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz’s business empire.”

As highlighted in this previous post, French citizen Frederic Cillins was criminally charged by the DOJ for allegedly attempting to obstruct an ongoing FCPA investigation into whether a mining company paid bribes to win lucrative mining rights in the Republic of Guinea. Cillins has been linked to BSGR.

Double Standard?

A back to school edition of the double standard?

FCPA enforcement actions have included allegations of the following things of value being given to alleged foreign officials: a bottle of wine (see here), a watch (see here), a camera (see here), kitchen appliances and business suits (see here), television sets, laptops and appliances (see here), and tea sets and office furniture (see here). Likewise, the December 2012 enforcement action (see here for the prior post) against Eli Lilly included allegations (no joke) that meals, visits to bath houses, spa treatments, and cigarettes were provided to Chinese physicians.

Given these enforcement agency allegations, my radar went off when reading this recent Wall Street Journal article about U.S. school supplies. According to the article, a popular website “that posts more than 300,000 back-to-school lists from around the country and is sponsored” by major corporate brands offers teachers (the vast majority of which in this country are public employees) and schools freebies and other goodies if the teachers put company product on the list. As the article notes “getting on teacher lists is crucial, because parents tend to buy the suggested brands even though they aren’t mandatory.”

Upcoming Events

The ABA’s Sixth Annual National Institute on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act will take place in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 18-20th (see here for program details). I am pleased to be participating. The following panel is particularly delicious.

Existing Limitations on the Scope of the FCPA: Is Anyone Paying Attention?

Most reform arguments have focused on narrowing the scope of the statute or providing new defenses. A better question, however, might be whether the statute’s existing limitations and defenses are being properly articulated and applied in enforcement actions. It is arguable that in several recent enforcement actions, the government’s factual allegations do not satisfy the FCPA’s elements or hide the ball on critical elements, deliberately blur different provisions of the statute, or seek remedies inconsistent with the letter and goals of the statute. Given that only two corporations have taken the government to trial on FCPA cases and individual cases do not always create opportunities to resolve these issues, the question is posed: Who is policing the police in FCPA matters?

In sum, that is the thesis of my 2010 article “The Facade of FCPA Enforcement.”

Securities Docket will be hosting Securities Enforcement Forum 2013 in Washington, D.C. on October 9th (see here for program details).

Reading Stack

The latest volume of the FCPA Update from Debevoise & Plimpton.

The latest Anti-Corruption Digest from Dorsey & Whitney.

*****

A good long weekend to all.

Friday Roundup

By Mike Koehler on February 15, 2013 in Brookfield Asset Management, Compliance, Compliance Defense, EADS, Enforcement Agency Speeches, ENI, Facilitating Payments, Finmeccanica, Foreign Official, Internal Controls, NCR Corp., Neither Admit or Deny

From the SEC Chairman, Congress is capable, adding to the list, scrutiny alerts, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday Roundup.

From the SEC Chairman

SEC Chairman Elisse Walter stated as follows earlier this week (see here) in opening a Foreign Bribery and Corruption Training Conference for law enforcement officials from around the world.

“[W]e have found that corrupt practices by a registered company are generally indicators of larger problems within the business – problems with the potential to harm that business’s shareholder-owners. Bribery and other corrupt practices may result in accounting fraud and falsified disclosures where shareholders are not getting an accurate picture of a company’s finances in their regulatory filings. Bribery means losing control of – or deliberately falsifying – books and records. Often, key executives or board members are kept in the dark, limiting their ability to make informed decisions about the company’s business. Obviously, engaging in corrupt practices means weakening or circumventing internal control mechanisms, leaving a company less able to detect and end not just corruption but other questionable practices. A company that has lost its moral compass is in grave danger of losing its competitive roadmap, as well – while shareholders are kept in the dark.”

Congress Is Capable

Well, at least as to certain issues.

Such as introducing and passing laws that expressly describe state-owned entities (“SOEs”). In reading my historical account of the FCPA’s legislative history, “The Story of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” or my “foreign official” declaration here, you will learn that despite being aware of SOEs, despite exhibiting a capability for drafting a definition that expressly included SOEs in other bills, and despite being provided a more precise way to describe SOEs, Congress chose not to include such definitions or concepts in S. 305, the bill that ultimately became the FCPA in December 1977.

This prior post highlighted Congress’s capability in capturing SOEs in Dodd-Frank Section 1504 and along comes another example which demonstrates that Congress is capable of legislating as to SOEs. Recently, H.R.491 – the Global Online Freedom Act of 2013 was introduced in the House. The purpose of the bill is “To prevent United States businesses from cooperating with repressive governments in transforming the Internet into a tool of censorship and surveillance, to fulfill the responsibility of the United States Government to promote freedom of expression on the Internet, to restore public confidence in the integrity of United States businesses, and for other purposes.”

The bill defines “foreign official” as follows.

The term ‘foreign official’ means– (A) any officer or employee of a foreign government or of any department; and (B) any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of, or acting under color of law with the knowledge of, any such government or such department, agency, state-owned enterprise, or instrumentality.” (emphasis added).

It is a basic premise of statutory construction that Congress is presumed not to use redundant or superfluous language. Granted, H.R.491 is not yet law, but let’s assume it becomes law as introduced. If instrumentality includes SOEs (as the enforcement agencies maintain), then Congress will violate this legislative maxim by using redundant or superfluous language in H.R. 491.

Adding To The List

The Heritage Foundation recently published (here) a speech by Peter Hansen titled “Unleashing the U.S. Investor in Africa: A Critique of U.S. Policy Toward the Continent.” Hansen critiqued U.S. government thinking about African development, including Ambassador statements that it is important to raise incentives for overly “cautious” U.S. companies to invest in Africa. Hansen stated that this “mistaken assumption” assumed that “mainstream U.S. companies will be motivated more by the prospect of higher rewards than by the diminishment of risks.” He noted that this view is not just wrong, but counterproductive and stated as follows.

“The problem with Africa is not a lack of attractive prospects, but rather Africa’s risk profile. With few exceptions, sensible U.S. direct investors (that is, those who run projects, not just take portfolio positions) have steered clear of Africa for the simple reason that Africa’s risks often exceed their risk tolerance. The African market has been left largely to non-Americans, to the unsophisticated seekers of El Dorado, and to a legion of “chancers” who seek sweetheart deals with no money down. The resulting tales of woe coming out of Africa, due largely to poor investment planning or thwarted get-rich-quick schemes, serve wrongly to tarnish Africa’s reputation. By exclusively raising incentives and failing to reduce risks, Ambassador Carson’s approach simply encourages those already prone to failure, without inspiring broad-spectrum investment by serious U.S. companies. Such bedrock U.S. firms do not need higher incentives. Africa already presents high-return opportunities. What serious U.S. firms need instead is for Africa’s risks to be reduced. Rewards that cannot be obtained are, after all, just mirages. The easiest way for the U.S. government to reduce risks for U.S. investors in Africa is to provide them with legal protection. The basic legal tools for protecting U.S. investors are double tax treaties (DTTs), often called double tax agreements (DTAs) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs).”

Query whether an FCPA compliance defense should be added to this list? See here to download my article “Revisiting a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Compliance Defense.”

Scrutiny Alerts and Updates

This previous post highlighted the scrutiny Brookfield Asset Management (a Toronto based global asset management company with shares traded on the NYSE) was facing in Brazil concerning allegations that its subsidiary paid bribes to win construction permits. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported (here), Sao Paulo, Brazil prosecutors filed civil charges against the company’s Brazilian subsidiary, two of its top executives and a former employee. The prosecutor is quoted in the WSJ as saying that “Brookfield has created a high system of bribery in order to obtain approval for its projects quickly and with irregularities.” A spokesman for the company stated as follows. “These are unproven allegations made by a former employee. We don’t believe Brookfield did anything wrong and we are cooperating with authorities.”

This previous post highlighted scrutiny of EADS subsidiary, GPT Special Management Systems in the U.K. The Financial Times recently reported here that the FBI is also probing corruption allegations against GPT “relating to a contract in Saudi Arabia.” The article states as follows. “The FBI has interviewed a witness and taken possession of documents in connection with allegations that GPT bribed Saudi military officials with luxury cars and made £11.5m of unexplained payments – some via the US – to bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.”

This recent Reuters article reports that Italian police arrested the head of defense group Finmeccanica SpA (Giuseppe Orsi) on a warrant alleging that he paid bribes to win an Indian contract. According to the report, Prosecutors accuse Orsi of paying bribes to intermediaries to secure the sale of 12 helicopters in a 560 million euro ($749 million) deal when he was head of the group’s AgustaWestland unit. Finmeccanica, which is approximately 30% owned by the Italian government, has ADRs registered with the SEC and AgustaWestland does extensive business in the U.S. (see here), including with the U.S. government. According to this Wall Street Journal article, Italian prosecutors are also “investigating [Finmeccanica] on suspicion that it engaged in corrupt activities to win various types of contracts in Latin America, Asia, and at home.”

This recent Bloomberg article reports that “Eni SpA Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni is being investigated for alleged corruption in an Italian probe of contracts obtained by its oil services company, Saipem SpA, in Algeria.” Eni has ADRs registered with the SEC. In 2010, Eni resolved (see here) an SEC FCPA enforcement action concerning Bonny Island, Nigeria conduct. In resolving the action, Eni consented to the entry of a court order permanently enjoining it from violating the FCPA’s books and record and internal controls provisions.

NCR Corporation stated in a recent release here, in pertinent part, as follows concerning its FCPA scrutiny.

“Update regarding OFAC and FCPA Investigations

The Company and the Special Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors have each completed their respective internal investigations regarding the anonymous allegations received from a purported whistleblower regarding certain aspects of the Company’s business practices in China, the Middle East and Africa. The principal allegations relate to the Company’s compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and federal regulations that prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in certain activities in Syria.

[…]

The Company has made a presentation to the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission(“SEC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) providing the facts known to the Company related to the whistleblower’s FCPA allegations, and advising the government that many of these allegations were unsubstantiated. The Company’s investigations of the whistleblower’s FCPA allegations identified a few opportunities to strengthen the Company’s comprehensive FCPA compliance program, and remediation measures were proposed and are being implemented. As previously disclosed, the Company is responding to a subpoena of the SEC and requests of the DOJ for documents and information related to the FCPA, including matters related to the whistleblower’s FCPA allegations.”

Investigating the purported whistleblower’s allegations has been a costly exercise for NCR. In a recent earnings conference call, company CFO Bob Fishman stated that the “overall cost” has been approximately $4.8 million.

Reading Stack

See here for the New York Times DealBook writeup of oral arguments in SEC v. Citigroup – an appeal which focuses of Judge Jed Rakoff’s concerns about common SEC settlements terms, including neither admith nor deny.

FCPA enforcement statistics are over-hyped for compliance assessments says Ryan McConnell (Morgan Lewis) in this Corporate Counsel article. In this Corporate Counsel article, McConnell and his co-author compare 2012 to 2011 numbers in terms of facilitation payments data found in corporate policies.

The three types of employees one encounters when conducting FCPA training – here from Alexandra Wrage (President, Trace International).

If for no other reason, because of the picture associated with this recent post on thebriberyact.com.

*****

A good weekend to all.

Friday Roundup

By Mike Koehler on August 10, 2012 in Blackwater, Canada, Compliance, Declination Decisions, EADS, FCPA Inc., Foreign Issuers, Hercules Offshore, Huntsman Corp., Individual Enforcement Action, Nigeria, Nordion

Add a few to the list, take a few off, a word on guest posts, take a deep breath, whose fault is it, once again nobody was charged. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Add Another

Most companies bury FCPA disclosures deep in SEC filings. Not so with Nordion Inc. (here – a Canadian based health sciences company with shares traded in the U.S). It took the open and direct route by issuing a release (here) specifically devoted to the topic. The release states as follows.

“[The company] disclosed that it is conducting an internal inquiry and investigation of a foreign supplier and related parties focusing on compliance with the Canadian Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA) and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Through the Company’s own internal review as part of its CFPOA compliance program, Nordion discovered potential compliance irregularities. As a result, the Company recently commenced an internal investigation of the possible compliance issues. These issues relate to potential improper payments and other related financial irregularities in connection with the supply of materials and services to the Company. The investigation is being conducted by outside legal counsel and external forensic and accounting firms who are experts in such compliance. These external advisors are reporting regularly to a special Committee of the Board constituted to deal with this matter. Nordion has voluntarily contacted the regulatory and enforcement authorities, including the Canadian and U.S. Department of Justice, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, to provide details of the matter and advise that an internal investigation is underway. The internal investigation is in its early stages and the Company’s external advisors have met with these authorities and will continue to provide reports to them as the investigation progresses.Nordion is committed to the highest standards of integrity and diligence in its business dealings and to the ethical and legally compliant business conduct by its employees, representatives and suppliers. The Company reviews its compliance programs on a regular basis to assess and align them with emerging trends and business practices. Corrupt or fraudulent business conduct is in direct conflict with the Company’s Global Business Practice Standards and corporate policies. The Company will continue to investigate this matter and cooperate with regulatory and enforcement authorities with a view to an expedient resolution.”

By my estimation, in the past four months, approximately twenty companies have become subject to FCPA scrutiny (whether through disclosures or FCPA-related civil complaints). In addition, industry sweeps as to the Hollywood movie industry and retail industry have reportedly been launched. See here for a prior post titled “The Sun Rose, A Dog Barked, and a Company Disclosed FCPA Scrutiny.”

Academi, Inc., formerly known as Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater was also in the news this week. As noted in this FBI release, pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement (here) the company admitted to certain facts and agreed to a $7.5 million fine in connection with certain export controls and firearms law violations. As noted in the release, the DPA “also acknowledges and references a $42 million settlement between the company and the Department of State as part of a settlement of violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations.” As noted in this previous post, Blackwater has been under investigation for FCPA violations in Iraq (and Sudan as noted in the FBI release). The above DPA specifically states however that “this agreement does not apply to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation independently under investigation by the DOJ.” As noted in this previous post, Blackwater’s FCPA scrutiny in Iraq inspired Representative Peter Welch to introduce H.R. 5366, the “Overseas Contractor Reform Act,” an impotent debarment bill that passed the House in September 2010 (see here).

There are also developments to report on the other side of the Atlantic as the U.K. Serious Fraud Office announced hereas follows. “The Director of the Serious Fraud Office has decided to open a criminal investigation into allegations concerning GPT and aspects of the conduct of their business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” As noted in this Bloomberg piece, GPT is a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EADS), and the investigation involved suspected payments to win a telecommunications deal with Saudi Arabia’s royal family. The Financial Times stated that the “Serious Fraud Office’s criminal inquiry is a step-change for the agency after it said in March that it was happy with an internal investigation the company was conducting.”

Although he is no longer in Congress, former Representative Todd Tiahrt is probably delighted by this news. See here for the prior post.

Take a Few Off

Huntsman Corporation recently disclosed as follows in a SEC filing (here).

“During the third quarter of 2010, we completed an internal investigation of the operations of Petro Araldite Pvt. Ltd. (“PAPL”), our majority owned joint venture in India. PAPL manufactures base liquid resins, base solid resins and formulated products in India. The investigation initially focused on allegations of illegal disposal of hazardous waste and waste water discharge and related reporting irregularities. Based upon preliminary findings, the investigation was expanded to include a review of the production and off-book sales of certain products and waste products. The investigation included the legality under Indian law and U.S. law, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, of certain payments made by employees of the joint venture to government officials in India. Records at the facility covering nine months in 2009 and early 2010 show that less than $11,000 in payments were made to officials for that period; in addition, payments in unknown amounts may have been made by individuals from the facility in previous years. […] Also in May 2010, we voluntarily contacted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to advise them of our investigation and that we intend to cooperate fully with each of them. We met with the SEC and the DOJ in October 2010 to discuss this matter and we continue to cooperate with these agencies. Steps have been taken to halt all known illegal or improper activity, including the termination of employment of management employees as appropriate. In May 2012, the SEC and DOJ notified us that they would not recommend any enforcement action be taken against our Company in this matter.”

Since August 2010 (see here for the prior post), I have proposed that when a company voluntarily discloses an FCPA internal investigation to the DOJ and the SEC, and when the DOJ and/or SEC decline enforcement, the DOJ and/or the SEC should publicly state, in a thorough and transparent manner, the facts the company disclosed to the agencies and why the agencies declined enforcement on those facts.

In the meantime, we can only speculate as to why the enforcement agencies did not bring an enforcement action against Hunstman. Of note, in the DOJ’s written declination responses after the June 2011 House hearing (see here), the DOJ stated that it has declined matters when, among other circumstances, “the improper payments involved minimal funds compared to the overall business revenue.”

As noted in this previous post, in April Hercules Offshore disclosed as follows. “On April 4, 2011, the Company received a subpoena issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requesting the delivery of certain documents to the SEC in connection with its investigation into possible violations of the securities laws, including possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) in certain international jurisdictions where the Company conducts operations. The Company was also notified by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) on April 5, 2011, that certain of the Company’s activities were under review by the DOJ. On April 24, 2012, the Company received a letter from the DOJ notifying the Company that the DOJ has closed its inquiry into the Company regarding possible violations of the FCPA and does not intend to pursue enforcement action against the Company. The DOJ indicated that its decision to close the matter was based on, among other factors, the thorough investigation conducted by the Company’s special counsel and the Company’s compliance program. The Company, through the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, intends to continue to cooperate with the SEC in its investigation. At this time, it is not possible to predict the outcome of the SEC’s investigation, the expenses the Company will incur associated with this matter, or the impact on the price of the Company’s common stock or other securities as a result of this investigation.”

Earlier this week, the company updated its disclosure as follows. “On August 7, 2012, Hercules Offshore, Inc. (the “Company”) received a letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) notifying the Company that the SEC staff has completed its investigation into the Company regarding possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and does not intend to pursue enforcement action against the Company. As previously disclosed, the Company was notified by the SEC and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in April 2011, that certain of the Company’s activities were under review by the SEC and DOJ with respect to possible violations of the FCPA in certain international jurisdictions where the Company conducts operations. The Company previously disclosed that it received a letter from the DOJ on April 24, 2012, notifying the Company that the DOJ has closed its inquiry into the Company regarding possible violations of the FCPA and does not intend to pursue enforcement action against the Company. The DOJ noted that it terminated its investigation ‘…based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the thorough investigation undertaken by Hercules and the steps that Hercules has taken in the past and continues to take to enhance its compliance program, including efforts to ensure compliance with the FCPA.’ As a result of the termination by the SEC and the prior termination by the DOJ, there are no open FCPA investigations against the Company.”

As evident from the disclosures, unlike Huntsman, the FCPA scrutiny of Hercules was not based on a voluntary disclosure, but inquiries from the SEC and DOJ. Whether this represents a declination or a dud is the question.

Guest Posts

Part of the mission of FCPA Professor is to facilitate a forum for discussion and analysis of FCPA and related issues among FCPA practitioners, business and compliance professionals, scholars and students, and other interested persons. Given this mission, I frequently publish guest posts (see here for approximately 60 such posts). In publishing guest posts, it should not be assumed in all cases that I agree in whole or in part with the content of such posts. Rather, providing the forum for delivery into the marketplace of ideas is what I hope to facilitate and I encourage all who want to make their voice heard on the issues to consider submitting a guest post.

A Deep Breath

The FCPA is a unique statute, with unique and difficult to manage risks.

Nevertheless , it was refreshing to see this piece by Pamela Marple (Chabourne & Park – here) in the NACD Director Advisory titled “The FCPA: A New Bear in the Woods?” Marple begins as follows. “Over the past five years, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has solidified itself as an industry brimming with expert forums, company departments and substantial news coverage. Is this statute really the bear in the woods some say it is?” Marple states as follows. “The existence of the FCPA industry (and professionals who are available to conduct internal investigations at a high price) does not mean that this reaction is what is always required. What is required first and foremost is reasonable judgment exercised by directors and professionals who seek both compliance and solutions—without assuming a bear is present at every turn.”

As I previously commented (here) to Corporate Board Member, corporate directors need to keep a proper perspective. There’s a whole industry out there that’s trying to sell the steroids version of FCPA compliance. But directors should not get their undies in a bundle over this. This is an issue, just like any other risk area, that directors need to have on their radar screen. Corporate directors should not panic when it comes to FCPA compliance.

Whose Fault is It?

Do FCPA violations occur because companies subject to the law go into foreign markets intent on engaging in bribery or because the companies are confronted by corrupt foreign officials seeking to line their own pockets?

Circumstances vary of course, but this recent article in the African Globe includes comments from human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana who focused on the former. The article stated as follows. “In order to cover up the involvement of western governments and corporations in the promotion of corruption, terrorism and drug abuse in Africa, the impression is often created by top public officials of some foreign governments that Africans are the most corrupt people in the world,” Falana observed noting that only last week, the US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, kicked off her 11-day tour of some African states in Senegal by condemning corruption in Africa and urging African leaders to fight it in order to get good governance in the continent. He said it was also the kernel of President Barack Obama’s message to Africans when he made a brief stopover in Ghana three years ago. “While we do not condone corruption, it is high time the Obama administration was told to stop blaming the victims of grand corruption promoted and fuelled by western countries led by Switzerland, France, United Kingdom and United States,” Falana said.”

Nobody Was Charged

A recent New York Times article (here) once again raises the issue of why few corporate fraud enforcement actions result in individual charges. The article states as follows. “The Justice Department has collected $8.6 billion over the last three years, more than in any similar period in history, but relatively few prosecutions of individuals have come from the biggest settlements.”

A reason?

In the FCPA context, I submit and stated during my 2010 Senate testimony (here), involves the quality of the corporate enforcement action. Given the prevalence of NPAs and DPAs in the FCPA context and the ease in which DOJ offers these alternative resolution vehicles to companies subject to an FCPA inquiry, companies often agree to enter into such resolution vehicles regardless of the DOJ’s legal theories or the existence of valid and legitimate defenses. It is simply easier, more cost efficient, and more certain for a company to agree to a NPA or DPA than it is to be criminally indicted and mount a valid legal defense even if the DOJ theory of prosecution is questionable. (See here for my scholarship “The Facade of FCPA Enforcement). Individuals, on the other hand, face a deprivation of personal liberty, and are more likely to force the DOJ to satisfy its high burden of proof as to all FCPA elements.

A telling statistic?

As noted in this prior post, since alternative resolution vehicles were first used in the FCPA context (December 2004) there have been 61 “core” corporate DOJ FCPA enforcement actions. 47 of the 61 ”core” corporate DOJ FCPA enforcement actions (77%) have been resolved via an NPA (19 instances) or a DPA (28 instances). In these 47 “core” corporate DOJ FCPA enforcement actions, only 7 enforcement actions (15%) have resulted in any individual FCPA criminal charges against company employees. In other words, when the DOJ resolves an FCPA enforcement action via a NPA or DPA, there is only a 15% likelihood that individual criminal charges will be filed against any company employee or those affiliated with the company. [Note: the above statistics were calculated in Sept. 2011]

For previous posts on this very same issue see here.

*****

A good weekend to all.

U.S. Congressman Alleges Bribery at Airbus

By Mike Koehler on December 11, 2009 in Airbus, Congressional Activity, EADS, Foreign Issuers, Man SE

U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan) (see here) has alleged that Airbus and its parent company European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (“EADS”) pay bribes in order to get business.

In a recent article in Human Events Online (see here, scroll down a bit), Tiahrt states that “agents for the Airbus company have openly said that yes we do use bribery, in fact we budget for it.”

Tiahrt’s accusation follows an October 2009 letter (see here) he sent to the Deputy Secretary of Defense in which he stated that “[i]t is well documented that EADS has bribed foreign officials in buying products instead of American products.” Tiahrt states that “EADS has been subject to bribe-related scandals in Belgium, Canada, India, Kuwait, Switzerland and Syria.” He further notes that the “[t]he US intelligence community has characterized EADS as the most corrupt corporation in the world” and urges the Deputy Secretary of Defense to read the CIA briefing on EADS.

Tiahrt’s main concern appears to be that “[f]oreign companies, such as EADS, do not have to comply with the [FCPA].”

For the record, I am not so sure that Tiahrt is correct. For instance, EADS (the corporate parent of Airbus) has ADRs registered with the SEC. (see here). Further, Airbus has several business locations in the U.S. (see here).

******

Staying on the topic of foreign companies, a German court recently ordered two subsidiaries of MAN SE (see here) to pay $221 million in fines in connection with a wide-ranging investigation concerning bribes paid to secure sales of trucks and buses. MAN’s shares traded in the U.S. “over the counter” on the “pink sheets.” (see here).

Top Menu

Navigation

Friday Roundup

Friday Roundup

Friday Roundup

U.S. Congressman Alleges Bribery at Airbus

Subscribe