Issues To Consider From The Tysers And H.W. Wood Enforcement Actions
This previous post discussed the related DOJ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions against United Kingdom reinsurance brokers Tysers Insurance Brokers Limited (acquired by AUB Group in 2022) and H.W. Wood Limited for “participation in a corrupt scheme to pay bribes to Ecuadorian government officials.”
This post highlights additional issues to consider.
Timeline
AUB previously disclosed in 2022.
Yet Additional FCPA Enforcement Actions Concerning Ecuador’s Seguros Sucre
From time to time, there are certain Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions in which the core allegations just seem to “keep on giving” and spawn several related enforcement actions.
A prime example were the many FCPA (and related) enforcement actions involving Haiti Teleco from approximately ten years ago (see here) and the many recent enforcement actions concerning Venezuela’s PDVSA.
Enforcement actions concerning Ecuador’s Seguros Sucre S.A. (“Seguros Sucre”), an alleged state-owned insurance company and “instrumentality” of the Ecuadorian government, are beginning to add up as well. In 2022 U.K.-based reinsurance broker, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group Holdings Ltd. (JLT) resolved a $29 million FCPA enforcement action (see here for the prior post) and eight individuals have been criminally charged (and several have pleaded guilty) in connection with the same underlying conduct.
The latest enforcement action was yesterday’s announcement by the DOJ that Tysers Insurance Brokers Limited (Tysers – formerly known and doing business during the relevant time period as Integro Insurance Brokers Limited an international reinsurance broker based in the United Kingdom) and H.W. Wood Limited (an international reinsurance broker based in the United Kingdom) resolved a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action for “participation in a corrupt scheme to pay bribes to Ecuadorian government officials.”
The net settlement amount in the Tysers enforcement action is $46.5 million and the net settlement amount in the H.W. Wood enforcement action is $508,000 based on inability to pay.
Time Spent On The DOJ’s FCPA Website
I recently spent some time on the DOJ’s FCPA Website and looked at all “Enforcement Actions” involving individuals from 2018 to the present.
Many of the separately listed “Enforcement Actions” involve multiple individual defendants and some individual enforcement actions are listed in more than one year.
By my estimation though, the DOJ’s FCPA website – from 2018 to the present – contains information about 175 individuals and set forth below are some interesting statistics.
Another Enforcement Action Involving Ecuador’s Seguros Sucre
From time to time, there are certain Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions in which the core allegations just seem to “keep on giving” and spawn several related enforcement actions.
A prime example were the many FCPA (and related) enforcement actions involving Haiti Teleco from approximately ten years ago (see here) and the many recent enforcement actions concerning Venezuela’s PDVSA.
Enforcement actions concerning Ecuador’s Seguros Sucre S.A. (“Seguros Sucre”), an alleged state-owned insurance company and “instrumentality” of the Ecuadorian government are beginning to add up.
Brothers Plead Guilty To FCPA And Related Charges In Connection With Ecuador Conduct At Issue In Sargeant Marine And Vitol Enforcement Actions
Keeping track of DOJ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act actions against individuals can sometimes be tricky.
Many individual actions are announced through DOJ press releases, but some enforcement actions are not and just quietly appear on a court docket.
For instance, you probably have not heard much about the FCPA enforcement action against brothers Enrique Pere Ycaza and Antonio Pere Ycaza.
The criminal informations (see here and here) were filed in October 2020: (i) shortly after the September 2020 FCPA enforcement action against Sargeant Marine Inc. (SMI – a Florida based asphalt company) (see here for the prior post) concerning conduct in Brazil, Venezuela and Ecuador; and (ii) shortly before the December 2020 FCPA enforcement action against Vitol (an energy trading company – see here for the prior post) concerning conduct in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico.