SAP Joins The Repeat Offender Club
In 2016 SAP (a German software company with American Depository Shares registered with the SEC) resolved a $3.9 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action.
As highlighted here, in 2019 the company disclosed additional FCPA scrutiny and stated: “SAP has received communications and whistleblower information alleging conduct that may violate anti-bribery laws in South Africa, the United States (including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)), and other countries.”
Yesterday, SAP joined the ever-growing FCPA repeat offender club as the DOJ and SEC announced (here and here) related FCPA enforcement actions against the company. The net FCPA settlement amount is $102.5 million: DOJ ($63.6 million) and SEC ($38.9 million).
Chemical Company Albemarle Resolves A Net $218.4 Million Enforcement Action
As highlighted in this prior post, in February 2018 Albemarle Corp. (a North Carolina based chemical company) disclosed Foreign Corrupt Practices Act scrutiny.
More than 5.5 years later, the DOJ and SEC announced a net $218.4 million FCPA enforcement action against the company.
The resolution included a DOJ non-prosecution agreement (pursuant to which the company agreed to pay a $98.2 million criminal penalty and $16.6 million in forfeiture) and an SEC administrative order (pursuant to which the company agreed to pay approximately $103.6 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest).
The DOJ’s First FCPA DPA Involved Monsanto
[This post is part of a periodic series regarding “old” FCPA enforcement actions]
In early January 2005, the DOJ used a deferred prosecution agreement for the first time to resolve a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action. The “guinea pig” was Monsanto.
This post highlights the DOJ and parallel SEC enforcement action against the company (aggregate settlement amount of $1.5 million) based on conduct in Indonesia.
In A Case That Keeps On Giving, The DOJ Announces Unsealing Of 2015 Indictment Against Former Alstom And Marubeni Executives
In mid-2013, the DOJ announced that various current and former of Alstom resolved a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action in connection with the Tarahan power project in Indonesia. The underlying charging documents were from 2012. (See here). Thereafter, in 2013 additional individuals associated with Alstom were also charged (see here and here) including Lawrence Hoskins who was found guilty at trial in 2019. (See here).
In early-2014, Marubeni (a consortium partner of Alstom on the Tarahan project) resolved an FCPA enforcement action. (See here and here). In late 2014, Alstom resolved an FCPA enforcement action regarding alleged conduct around the world including in Indonesia in connection Tarahan power contract. (See here and here).
Yesterday, the DOJ announced the unsealing of this 2015 indictment charging Reza Moenaf (the former president of Alstom’s subsidiary in Indonesia), Eko Sulianto (the former director of sales of Alstom’s subsidiary in Indonesia) and Junji Kusunoki (the former deputy general manager of Marubeni’s Overseas Power Project Department) with conspiracy to violate the FCPA and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the same core allegations found in the previous enforcement actions.
An In-Depth Look At The U.K. Prosecution Of Airbus
These pages have long asserted that if a country is to have a deferred prosecution regime that the regime in the United Kingdom (which requires meaningful judicial review and approval) is far more preferable than the U.S. regime.
This is apparent when reviewing the Statement of Facts,, Deferred Prosecution Agreement and Approved Judgment relevant to the U.K. Serious Fraud Office prosecution of Airbus. (See here for a collection of the U.K. documents and see here for the prior post regarding the U.S. enforcement action). The U.K. documents provided a substantially more thorough and transparent glimpse into the underlying conduct compared to the U.S. resolution documents.