FCPA Ripple
The article “Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Ripples” documents numerous “ripple effects” of FCPA scrutiny and enforcement beyond a DOJ/SEC enforcement action including so-called “offensive use” of the FCPA by a competitor or adversary to achieve a business objective or to further advance a litigating position.
An interesting recent example concerns the Bull Mountains Mine (located in central Montana) and federal government approval to expand the mine.
A recent lawsuit brought by Montana Environmental Information Center, Center for Biological Diversity, and WildEarth Guardians urges the Court to hold unlawful approval of the Bull Mountains Mine expansion.
Offensive Use Of The FCPA
The article “Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Ripples” documents numerous “ripple effects” of FCPA scrutiny and enforcement beyond a DOJ/SEC enforcement action including so-called “offensive use” of the FCPA by a competitor or adversary to achieve a business objective or to further advance a litigating position.
In 2021, voting machine company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation and disparagement lawsuit against Fox News and others in New York State Court alleging that Fox and others intentionally lied about Smartmatic in an effort to mislead the public about the results of the 2020 Presidential election. (See here).
The civil case remains active.
Offensive Use Of The FCPA?
The article “FCPA Ripples” highlights, among other topics, how Foreign Corrupt Practices Act scrutiny and enforcement can impact a company’s business operations and strategy in a variety of ways including “offensive” use of the FCPA by a competitor or adversary to achieve a business objective or to further advance a litigating position.
Amazon, like certain other companies, has fans and detractors as well.
In the later category is the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), an organization which represents million of retail stores in India. CAIT has long raised concerns about Amazon’s business operations in India. (See here “CAIT Seeks Ban on Amazon in India” and here “CAIT Fully Geared up to Fight Amazon & Flipkart” for examples).
This prior post highlighted Amazon’s purported FCPA scrutiny in India.
Not surprisingly, CAIT has taken a position on the matter and recently sent a letter to the SEC and DOJ regarding Amazon. The letter states in full:
Friday Roundup
Apparently not, scrutiny updates, silly offensive use, and not credible. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Apparently Not
This May 2017 post asked whether Sinovac might become the first Chinese issuer to resolve an FCPA enforcement action after the SEC began an inquiry regarding certain bribery and corruption issues in China.
Apparently not as the company recently announced:
Friday Roundup
Scrutiny alerts and updates, just plain silly, #precisionmatters, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Scrutiny Alerts and Updates
Societe Generale
As highlighted in this 2014 post, Societe Generale, among other companies, has been under FCPA scrutiny regarding its dealings with Libya’s government-run investment fund. The French financial services company recently disclosed: