Top Ten Corporate FCPA Settlements
Set forth below is the current top ten corporate FCPA settlements of all-time actually secured by U.S. law enforcement (in other words net FCPA settlement amounts).
In reviewing this list, it is interesting to note that approximately 15 years ago, the largest FCPA settlement of all-time was $44 million.
Unlike certain other lists, the below list is calculated after consistently accounting for certain credits or deductions in several enforcement actions involving foreign companies and/or related foreign law enforcement actions.
Remember When …
Remember when settlement amounts in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action were simple and straight forward?
For instance, the 2008 FCPA enforcement action against Siemens was a “blockbuster” at the time.
Like many recent FCPA enforcement actions, there were lots of moving parts in the Siemens enforcement action: a DOJ matter, an SEC matter, and related foreign law enforcement matters.
Yet, somehow the DOJ was able to articulate the actual settlement amount with seven words and a number: “a criminal fine in the amount of $448,500,000.”
An FCPA Statistical Feast
If the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is an area of your practice or interest, this post may make you feel like a kid in a candy store.
FCPA Professor has been the place to visit this month for in-depth 2023 FCPA enforcement statistics as well as comparisons to historical statistics. If you missed the daily posts, no worries. This post consolidates in one place the statistics recently published on FCPA Professor.
This post compares 2023 corporate FCPA enforcement to prior years.
Regarding “Family Businesses” And FCPA Enforcement …
This FCPA Blog post discusses “family businesses — those retaining significant founding-family ownership or management participation or both” and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and how family businesses are “grossly under-represented among convicted FCPA violators.”
According to the FCPA Blog “just eight of … 273 [FCPA enforcement actions] involved family businesses. They are Walmart, Louis Berger International, Tyson Foods, Samsung Heavy Industries, Sargeant Marine Inc., JBS S.A., Omega Advisors, Inc., and Anheuser-Busch InBev. That’s just 2.93 percent of all corporate FCPA defendants. That means family businesses have been at least 20 times less likely to be prosecuted for FCPA offenses than non-family businesses.”
The term “family business” of course is not a bright line concept and few would perhaps term Walmart or Tyson Foods (companies with family origins yet currently its top ten shareholders are institutional investors) “family businesses.”
Top 20 SEC Disgorgement Amounts In FCPA Enforcement Actions
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act contains specific penalty provisions for both violations of the anti-bribery and books and records and internal control provisions. However, in the FCPA’s modern era there has been a dramatic shift by the SEC away from the FCPA’s statutory penalties in most corporate enforcement action towards disgorgement.
The 2004 FCPA enforcement action against ABB is believed to be the first FCPA enforcement in which the SEC sought a disgorgement remedy.
Since then, the SEC has secured approximately $5.4 billion in disgorgement (and associated pre-judgment interest) in approximately 160 corporate enforcement actions. Set forth below is the current top 20 list of SEC disgorgement (and associated pre-judgment interest) amounts.