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Novartis Joins The Repeat Offender Club – This Time Paying Approximately $347 Million To Resolve An FCPA Enforcement Action

By on June 26, 2020 in 2020 Enforcement Action, Distributor Issues, DOJ Enforcement Action, Foreign Issuers, Greece, Healthcare Products, Healthcare Providers As Foreign Officials, Novartis, Pharmaceutical Industry, SEC Enforcement Action, South Korea, SOX Certification Issues, Third Parties, Travel and Entertainment, Vietnam
Novartis

What happens when the Greek, Swiss, and South Korean subsidiaries of a Swiss company engage in improper conduct in Greece, Vietnam and South Korea? Why of course, approximately $345 million flows into the U.S. treasury.

Yesterday, Novartis joined the long and growing list of FCPA repeat offenders as the DOJ and SEC announced (see here and here) a combined approximate $347 million enforcement action. (As highlighted in this prior post, in 2016 Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis coughed up $25 million to resolve a SEC FCPA enforcement action focused on the conduct of its indirect Chinese subsidiaries).

Yesterday’s enforcement action included a DOJ component (in which the company agreed to pay approximately $234 million) and a SEC component (in which the company agreed to pay approximately $113 million).

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Eni Joins The Repeat Offender Club – This Time Resolves A $24.5 Million SEC FCPA Enforcement Action

By on April 18, 2020 in 2020 Enforcement Action, Algeria, ENI, Farid Noureddine Bedjaoui, Foreign Issuers, Internal Controls, Oil and Gas Industry, SEC Enforcement Action, Third Parties
eni

As highlighted in this prior post, in 2010 ENI S.p.A (an Italy-based oil and gas company with American Depositary Shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange) along with its wholly-owned subsidiary Snamprogetti resolved a $125 million SEC Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action concerning conduct in Nigeria.

On Friday, the SEC announced that ENI resolved another FCPA enforcement action – this one a $24.5 million enforcement action concerning conduct in Algeria by Saipem S.p.A. (a minority-owned and controlled subsidiary during the relevant time period). The conduct at issue in the enforcement action occurred 10 – 13 years ago.

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Swedish Company Bribes Foreign Officials, U.S. Collects $1.06 Billion In Record-Setting FCPA Enforcement Action

By on December 9, 2019 in 2019 Enforcement Actions, China, Djibouti, DOJ Enforcement Action, Ericsson, Foreign Issuers, Gaining Access to Confidential Documents, Indonesia, SEC Enforcement Action, Telecommunications Industry, Third Parties, Travel and Entertainment, Vietnam
ericsson

Late last Friday, the DOJ and SEC announced (here and here) a record-setting Foreign Corrupt Practices Act action Swedish telecom company Ericsson (a company with American Depositary Shares traded in the U.S.). The $1.06 billion settlement amount is the largest net FCPA settlement amount in history surpassing the $850 million FCPA enforcement action against Russian telecom company MTS in March 2019 (see here).

The enforcement action concerned conduct in Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Kuwait, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia.

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Issues To Consider From The Barclays Enforcement Action

By on October 3, 2019 in Barclays, Books and Records, Foreign Issuers, Gray Cloud, Hiring Family Members of Foreign Officials, Jurisdiction
Issues

This prior post highlighted the SEC’s recent $6.3 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Barclays – the latest FCPA enforcement action focused on alleged improper internship and hiring practices primarily involving the financial services industry.

This post continues the analysis by highlighting additional issues to consider.

Timeline

In its March 1, 2016 annual report, Barclays disclosed:

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Issues To Consider From The Westport Fuel Systems Enforcement Action

By on October 2, 2019 in Canada, Compliance, Doing Business With “Foreign Officials”, Foreign Issuers, Gray Cloud, Investigative Fees, Jurisdiction, Westport Fuels Systems
Issues

This prior post highlighted the SEC’s recent $4 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Westport Fuel Systems and a former executive officer (Nancy Gougarty). This post continues the analysis by highlighting additional issues to consider.

Just the Third

Westport Fuel Systems is a Canadian company with shares listed on a U.S. exchange. The enforcement action is believed to be just the third enforcement action in the FCPA’s 40+ year history against a Canadian company. The first enforcement action against a Canadian company was Nordion (2016 – see here and here for prior posts). The second enforcement action against a Canadian company was Kinross Gold (2018 – see here and here for prior posts).

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