As highlighted in this prior post, in 2019 Russia-based Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (MTS) agreed to resolve an $850 million DOJ/SEC FCPA enforcement action based on the same alleged core conduct in several other Uzbekistan telecom focused FCPA enforcement actions. (See here and here).
As a condition of settlement, MTS was required to retain an independent compliance monitor.
The company recently disclosed:
Under scrutiny again, guilty plea, and for your listening enjoyment.
It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Under Scrutiny Again
As highlighted in this prior post, in 2019 Russia-based Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (MTS) agreed to resolve an $850 million DOJ/SEC FCPA enforcement action based on the same alleged core conduct in several other Uzbekistan telecom focused FCPA enforcement actions. (See here and here). As a condition of settlement, MTS was required to retain an independent compliance monitor.
Scrutiny alerts and updates, reminder, OECD Article 5, ripple, and for the reading stack.
It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Scrutiny Alerts and Updates
Deutsche Bank
The company has been under scrutiny since 2013 and recently disclosed in its annual report:
If I ever update my 2009 article “The Facade of FCPA Enforcement” there is going to be special mention of the facts and circumstances discussed in this post.
Over the last couple of years, the U.S. government has secured approximately $1.7 billion in net Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlement amounts in related FCPA enforcement actions against telecommunications companies VimpelCom, Telia, and most recently MTS. The enforcement actions have largely been based on the theory that Gulnara Karimova is a “foreign official” under the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions and have not been subjected to any meaningful judicial scrutiny.
Interesting then, that in this recent Swedish court decision (English transaction) concerning the 2017 prosecution of former Telia executives Tero Kivisaari, Olli Tuohimaa and Lars Nyberg the court acquitted the defendants because Karimova was not a “public official” under the relevant law.
In the decision, the court also cared little that Telia resolved an FCPA enforcement action based on this enforcement theory because – in the words of the court – there were “strong commercial reasons” for Telia to do this and that therefore the FCPA resolution “is without probative value or impact in this case.”
This previous post went in-depth into the recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Russia-based MTS for bribing alleged Uzbekistan telecom officials. As highlighted in this prior post, the overall $850 million FCPA settlement amount is the largest in history.
This post continues the analysis by highlighting additional issues to consider.
Timeline
