Top Menu

Navigation

Friday Roundup

By on December 9, 2016 in Biomet, CEMEX, Disgorgement, FCPA Sentences, Hiring Family Members of Foreign Officials, India, JPMorgan, Jurisdiction, Och-Ziff Capital Management, Samuel Mebiame, SEC, Teva Pharmaceuticals
Roundup

Guilty plea, scrutiny alerts and updates, SEC Director of Enforcement to leave, sound analysis of the JPMorgan enforcement action, and for the reading stack.

It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Mebiame Guilty Plea

As highlighted in this previous post, in August 2016 the DOJ unsealed a criminal complaint charging Samuel Mebiame, a Gabonese national connected to Och-Ziff, with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions. In pertinent part, the complaint alleged that Mebiame, on behalf of Och-Ziff and related entities, routinely paid bribes to foreign government officials in at least each Niger, Guinea and Chad.”

Today, the DOJ announced that Mebiame pleaded guilty.

Continue Reading

SEC Director Of Enforcement Ceresney On …

By on December 2, 2016 in Anything of Value, Daniel Och, Enforcement Agency Policy, Enforcement Agency Speeches, Financial Services Industry, Foreign Law Enforcement Cooperation, Harris Corporation, Hiring Family Members of Foreign Officials, Individual Enforcement Action, Industry Sweeps, Internal Controls, JPMorgan, Och-Ziff Capital, SEC, Voluntary Disclosure
Ceresney

Yesterday’s post highlighted comments made by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates at a recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act event and this post provides equal time to comments made by SEC Director of Enforcement Andrew Ceresney at the same event.

Similar to the DOJ speech, much of Ceresney’s speech represents the same old, same old something even he acknowledged during his speech.

When reading Ceresney’s comments about the importance of individual FCPA prosecutions keep in mind the following facts. In 2016 there have been 21 SEC corporate FCPA enforcement actions and 15 actions (72%) have not resulted (at least yet) in any related FCPA charges against company employees. This figure is generally consistent with the overall figure since 2008 in which approximately 80% of SEC corporate FCPA enforcement actions have not resulted in any related FCPA charges against company employees.

Continue Reading

Issues To Consider From The JP Morgan Enforcement Action

By on November 28, 2016 in Disgorgement, FCPA Inc., Fine / Penalty Issues, Gray Cloud, Hiring Family Members of Foreign Officials, JPMorgan, Voluntary Disclosure
Issues

This previous post went in-depth into the recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against JP Morgan based on its alleged improper hiring and internship practices that the U.S. government labeled bribery and corruption

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

Other Internship / Hiring Enforcement Actions

While the JPMorgan hiring and internship enforcement action was the most high-profile based on the settlement amount, it certainly was not the first FCPA enforcement action based on alleged improper internship and hiring practices.

Continue Reading

In Depth Into The JP Morgan FCPA Enforcement Action

By on November 18, 2016 in 2016 Enforcement Actions, Books and Records, China, DOJ Enforcement Action, Financial Services Industry, Hiring Family Members of Foreign Officials, Internal Controls, JPMorgan, Non-Prosecution Agreement, SEC Enforcement Action
JPMorgan

Yesterday, the DOJ and SEC announced (here and here) a $202.6 million FCPA enforcement action against J.P. Morgan (and a related entity) based on its alleged improper hiring and internship practices that the U.S. government has labeled bribery and corruption.

While the enforcement action was expected to focus on alleged improper hiring and internship practices involving so-called Chinese “princelings” (family members of alleged Chinese foreign officials), a meaningful component of the DOJ’s enforcement action involves hiring and internship practices involving family members of private individuals. Specifically, the DOJ’s non-prosecution agreement highlights 5 examples of “Quid Pro Quo Hiring” and 2 examples (40%) concern private companies: “a private Chinese manufacturing company” and a “Taiwanese private financial holding company.”

Numerous ironies, contradictions, and rule of law concerns abound in the enforcement action that will be explored in more detail in future posts. (In this clip, I talk to National Public Radio about one).

Continue Reading

Scrutiny Alerts And Updates

By on October 1, 2016 in Cognizant Technology Solutions, JPMorgan, Misonix, Standard Chartered, Wilmer Ruperti
little human with big magnifier look for something

Lost in the shuffle in this active week of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement has been the following scrutiny alerts and updates.

This post highlights scrutiny alerts and updates concerning: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Misonix, a PDVSA-related matter, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.

The New Jersey-based provider of information technology, consulting, and business process services disclosed:

Continue Reading

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes