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Friday Roundup

By on August 16, 2013 in Allied Defense Group, BHP Billiton, FCPA Investigative Costs, India, Juniper Networks, Novartis, Related Civil Litigation, Wal-Mart, Year in Review 2013

Wal-Mart’s FCPA expenes continue to grow, scrutiny alerts and updates, in the blink of an eye, and for the reading stack.  It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Wal-Mart’s FCPA Expenses

As highlighted in this previous post, last FY Wal-Mart’s FCPA professional fees and expenses were approximately $604,000 per working day.  As highlighted in this previous post, for Q1 of this FY Wal-Mart’s FCPA professional fees and expenses were approximately $1.16 million per working day.

Yesterday, in a Q2 earnings conference call, Wal-Mart executives stated:

“Expenses related to FCPA and compliance matters were approximately $82 million, which was above our forecasted range of $65 to $70 million. Approximately $48 million of these expenses represented costs incurred for the ongoing inquiries and investigations. Approximately $34 million is related to global compliance programs and organizational enhancements.”

Doing the math, Wal-Mart’s second quarter FCPA-related professional fees and expenses equal approximately $1.26 million per working day.

In this release, Wal-Mart stated:

“We believe expenses for FCPA matters and compliance programs will be between $75 and $80 million for both the third and fourth quarters.”

The question again ought to be asked – does it really need to cost this much or has FCPA scrutiny turned into a boondoggle for many involved?  For more on this issue, see my article “Big, Bold, and Bizarre: The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enters a New Era.

Scrutiny Alerts and Updates

BHP Billiton

The company issued the following release.

“As previously disclosed BHP Billiton received a request for information in August 2009 from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As a result the Group commenced an internal investigation and disclosed to relevant authorities including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) evidence that it uncovered regarding possible violations of applicable anti-corruption laws involving interactions with foreign government officials. As has been publicly reported, the Australian Federal Police has indicated that it has commenced an investigation. The Group is fully cooperating with the relevant authorities as it has since the US investigations commenced. As a part of the US process, the SEC and DOJ have recently notified the Group of the issues they consider could form the basis of enforcement actions and discussions are continuing. The issues relate primarily to matters in connection with previously terminated exploration and development efforts, as well as hospitality provided as part of the Company’s sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In light of the continuing nature of the investigations it is not appropriate at this stage for BHP Billiton to comment further or to predict outcomes. BHP Billiton is fully committed to operating with integrity and the Group’s policies specifically prohibit engaging in unethical conduct. BHP Billiton has what it considers to be a world class anti-corruption compliance program.”

For more, see here from The Australian.

Novartis

Add Novartis to the list of pharma companies under scrutiny by Chinese law enforcement for business practices in China.  This Wall Street Journal article states:

“Novartis AG has opened an investigation into possible misconduct at its Chinese operations after a former employee filed a complaint about the Swiss pharmaceutical company’s business practices with labor authorities in China.  Basel-Switzerland based Novartis said … its Business Practices Office, which looks into reported misconduct, is in charge of the investigation. The company said the former employee had asked for 5 million yuan (approximately $800,000) in compensation after resigning but declined to comment further.”

Allied Defense Group

Allied Defense Group (“ADG”) employed Mark Frederick Morales, one of the individuals charged in the failed Africa Sting enforcement action.  As noted in this previous post, in August 2012, the ADG disclosed:

“In February and March, 2012, the DOJ dismissed charges against all individuals indicted in the FCPA sting operation, including the former employee of MECAR USA [an operating business of ADG]. Since this time, the Company’s FCPA counsel has had several discussions with the DOJ and SEC regarding the agencies’ respective inquiries. Based upon these discussions, it appears likely that resolution of these inquiries will involve a payment by the Company to at least one of these government agencies in connection with at least one transaction involving the former employee of Mecar USA. At this point, the amount of this payment is undeterminable.”

ADG recently disclosed:

“In late 2012, the SEC advised that it will not pursue an enforcement action against the Company and in early August 2013, the DOJ advised that it has decided to close its inquiry into this matter.”

In The Blink Of An Eye

As highlighted last week in the Friday Roundup, last week Juniper Networks disclosed:

“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice are conducting investigations into possible violations by the Company of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Company is cooperating with these agencies regarding these matters. The Company is unable to predict the duration, scope or outcome of these investigations.”

Whether because of three sentences or other information in the company’s quarterly filing, the company’s stock dropped approximately 5.5% last Friday.

72 hours later?

Why of course a securities fraud class action complaint.

This beats the 100 hour threshold highlighted in this previous blink of an eye post.

Reading Stack

A revealing Op-Ed from a member of the Indian Administrative Services in the Times of India which “looks at the games lower bureaucracy plays — sometimes on its own, at other times in collusion with the top — which kill  entrepreneurship and capitalism in India” and which also provide breeding grounds in which harassment bribery flourishes.

An FCPA Mid-Year Update from BakerHostetler.

*****

A good  weekend to all.

Friday Roundup

By on August 2, 2013 in AB InBev, Avon, Baxter International, ENI, FCPA Statistics, GlaxcoSmithKline, Internal Investigation Issues, Lingua Franca, Multimedia, Origins of FCPA Actions, Pharmaceutical Industry, Wal-Mart, Weatherford International, Year in Review 2013

Scrutiny alerts, misleading yet interesting, the flip side, and for the reading stack.  It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Scrutiny Updates

Baxter International

The Wall Street Journal reports that Baxter International “investigated a joint venture in China and discovered expense violations there last year.”  According to the article, Baxter took action after employees of Guangzhou Baxter Qiaoguang Healthcare Co., reported problems internally in July 2012.  According to the article, similar allegations were made in July 2013 that “employees at Baxter’s joint venture paid travel agencies for arranging conferences between 2011 and 2012 for Chinese health officials.”  According to the article, “employees at several hotels identified as the conference sites in the documents said they had no records of the conferences.”

ENI

IntelliNews report here:  “ENI SpA  chief executive Paolo Scaroni will become a target of a major US Foreign Corruption Practices Act investigation by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities Exchange Commission in connection with an Algerian bribery scandal, [Italian] judicial sources said.” Among other things, the article states: “Judicial sources in Milan said they have compelling evidence Scaroni had personal knowledge of the bribe paid by SAIPEM and that SAIPEM is directly controlled by ENI and its management.”

As noted in this previous post, Eni has ADRs registered with the SEC.  In 2010, Eni resolved (see here) an SEC FCPA enforcement action concerning Bonny Island, Nigeria conduct.  In resolving the action, Eni consented to the entry of a court order permanently enjoining it from violating the FCPA’s books and record and internal controls provisions.

Weatherford

The company recently disclosed as follows concerning its long-lasting FCPA scrutiny.

“During the quarter ended June 30, 2013, negotiations related to the oil-for-food and FCPA matters progressed to a point where we recognized a liability for a  loss contingency that we believe is probable and for which a reasonable estimate  can be made.  Certain significant issues remain unresolved in the negotiations and, if these issues are not resolved to the Company’s satisfaction,  negotiations may be discontinued and such unresolved issues may ultimately  impact our ability to reach a negotiated resolution of the matters.  At this  time, the Company estimates that the most likely amount of this loss is $153 million.”

A $153 million settlement would be the eighth largest in FCPA history.

Avon

The company recently disclosed as follows concerning its long-lasting FCPA scrutiny.

“As previously reported in August 2012, we are in discussions with the SEC and the DOJ regarding resolving the government investigations. Our factual presentations as part of these discussions are substantially complete. In June 2013, we made an offer of settlement to the DOJ and the SEC that, among other terms, included payment of monetary penalties of approximately $12. The DOJ and the SEC have rejected the terms of our offer. Although we expect that the DOJ and the SEC will make a counterproposal to our offer, they have not yet done so. Our discussions with the DOJ and the SEC are ongoing.

There can be no assurance that a settlement with the SEC and the DOJ will be reached or, if a settlement is reached, the timing of any such settlement or the terms of any such settlement. We expect any such settlement will include civil and/or criminal fines and penalties, and may also include non-monetary remedies, such as oversight requirements and additional remediation and compliance requirements. We may be required to incur significant future costs to comply with the non-monetary terms of any settlement with the SEC and the DOJ. Under certain circumstances, we may also be required to advance significant professional fees and expenses to certain current and former Company employees in connection with these matters. Until any settlement or other resolution of these matters, we expect to continue to incur costs, primarily professional fees and expenses, which may be significant, in connection with the government investigations.
At this point we are unable to predict the developments in, outcome of, and economic and other consequences of the government investigations or their impact on our earnings, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition and ongoing business.  However, based on our most recent discussions with the DOJ and the SEC, the Company believes that it is probable that the Company will incur a loss upon settlement that is higher than the offer made by the Company of approximately $12, which was accrued by the Company as of June 30, 2013. We are unable to reasonably estimate the amount of any additional loss above the amount accrued to date; however it is reasonably possible that such additional loss will be material.”

Owens-Illinois

The beverage company recently disclosed as follows.

“The Company conducted an internal investigation into conduct in certain of its overseas operations that may have violated the anti-bribery provisions of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions, the Company’s own internal policies, and various local laws. In October 2012, the Company voluntarily disclosed these matters to the U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company intends to cooperate with any investigation by U.S. authorities. On July 18, 2013, the Company received a letter from the DOJ indicating that it presently did not intend to take any enforcement action and is closing its inquiry into the matter. The Company is presently unable to predict the duration, scope or result of any investigation by the SEC or whether the SEC will commence any legal action.”

AB InBev

The beverage company recently disclosed as follows.

“As previously disclosed, we have been informed by the SEC that it is conducting an investigation into our affiliates in India, including our non-consolidated Indian joint venture, InBev India Int’l Private Ltd, and whether certain relationships of agents and employees were compliant with the FCPA. We continue to cooperate in this investigation and have been informed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that it is also conducting a similar investigation. Our investigation into the conduct in question is ongoing and we are cooperating with the SEC and the DOJ.”

Misleading Yet Interesting

Perhaps one reason for why there appears to much confusion about the FCPA and FCPA enforcement is due to the vast amount of misleading information in the public domain concerning the FCPA.

This recent article in the Economic Times of India concerning Wal-Mart is an instructive example.

Stating that the FCPA is a “law that prohibits American companies and their foreign subsidiaries from bribing officials” is not a completely accurate statement concerning the scope of the law.  Stating that “the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA are enforced by the Department of Justice and the accounting provisions by the Securities and Exchange Commission” is not completely accurate either.  The SEC can also bring civil actions for FCPA anti-bribery violations and the DOJ can also bring criminal actions for wilful violations of the accounting provisions.

“In 2008, for example, Siemens paid a fine of $1.6 billion, the largest ever for an FCPA violation.”  This is a false statement.  While the Siemens enforcement action is indeed the largest in FCPA history in terms of fine and penalty amount, the amount was $800 million.”

Citing a source that says Wal-Mart’s FCPA scrutiny could result in an enforcement action “between $4.5 billion and $9 billion” is outrageous beyond belief.

Despite its deficiencies, the article highlights an interesting tension between conducting a thorough internal investigation and the treatment of employees.  The article states:

“The long shadow of Bentonville, channelled by the permanent gaze of investigators, is causing angst among the Indian staff of Walmart. A company official quoted earlier says the army of investigators, who enjoy sweeping powers to seize documents and equipment of the staff, are seen by many employees as intrusive and as an extra-judicial authority in the office. For example, the investigators scan even the couriers sent out by the staff. The official quoted above says the objective to ensure FCPA compliance is causing even minor situations to snowball.”

[…]

“In another case, Richard Leonard, a British citizen and general manager for asset protection in India, was on a store visit to Ludhiana, that too with Asia head Price, when he received a frantic call from a colleague that KPMG executives were trying to seize his desktop computer and break open his drawer. He immediately called other colleagues, asking them to stop the investigators from taking possession of his workstation. On his return to the office, Leonard dashed off e-mails to his bosses, including Walmart’s global head Mike Duke, on how employees like him have lost respect in the office and they are being portrayed as “criminals” by independent auditors.”

The article also states:

“Walmart is asking all India employees who have left or been suspended to sign a three-page ‘consultancy and cooperation agreement’, ostensibly with the FCPA fallout in mind. The agreement essentially requires them to make themselves available to provide any information or explanation of materials or documents requested by Walmart or any government authority. “The manner in which lawyers and audit team are going about doing their business, I have started believing that I have done something wrong,” says an employee.”

The Flip Side

This Forbes columnist asks – in the context of GlaxoSmithKline –  “is big pharma addicted to fraud?”

The question reminded me of the spot-on statement previously profiled here.  In a Law360 interview, Stephen Jonas (here), a partner in the Boston office of WilmerHale, was asked “what aspects of law in your practice are in need of reform, and why?”  He stated:

“One area greatly in need of reform, in my view, is the investigation of alleged health care fraud. This is an area in which the government regularly secures enormous settlements, starting in the tens of millions of dollars, and now exponentially expanding to the billions of dollars. Virtually every pharmaceutical company has now been subjected to one or more of these investigations and the results are predictable — enormous monetary contributions to the federal government. I find it hard to believe that wrongdoing is so rampant in this industry that every company has at least several hundred million dollars worth of it. The more likely answer is that these settlements often have far more to do with the leverage the government enjoys than the merits of what the company did or didn’t do. In order to stay in business, pharmaceutical and medical device companies must be able to sell products that can be paid for by Medicaid and Medicare. But a conviction for a health care offense would result in exclusion of the companies from federal health insurance and essentially a death sentence for their business. So they cannot afford to fight even the most debatable of charges. One of the results is that novel legal theories and sketchy evidence will never be tested in a court of law and negotiated settlements (under threat of exclusion) serve as “precedent” for the next case. That is a system badly in need of reform.”

Related to GSK, see here for my recent TV interview with LinkAsia.

Reading Stack

The always informative Miller & Chevalier FCPA Summer Review 2013.  As noted in the review “while investigation activity levels appear robust, the overall pace of  enforcement in 2013, in terms of resolved dispositions, remains at its lowest  level since 2006.”  This is correct, although difficult to square with a recent article from Compliance Week titled “FCPA Enforcement on the Rise Once Again.”  This is why an FCPA lingua franca is so important.  (See prior posts here and here).  Among other things, the Miller & Chevalier review contains useful charts including the nationality of companies under FCPA investigation and the countries implicated most frequently in FCPA enforcement actions.

Press coverage of BSG Resources and Beny Steinmetz (the wealthy Israeli for whom BSG Resources is named) regarding its business in Guinea continues.  (See this recent article from the U.K. Guardian).

An informative read from John Rupp (Covington) on how corporate interests and individual interests in a bribery investigation can collide and what corporate counsel can do to prevent this dynamic.

An interesting read from Trace Blog on how bribery schemes fall apart.  The post states:

“The reality is that many bribery schemes simply self-implode.  Think of it this way, once a bribe is paid, a corresponding debt is created to all who are involved in the scheme:  to the business partner who provides the funds; to the third party “consultant” who launders them through false pretense; to the accountant who cooks the books; to the bagman who delivers the payment; to each and every role player, big or small, who helps to bring about the bribe. At the time, loyalties may seem obvious: each co-conspirator will usually have a clear self-interest in keeping the bribery scheme hidden.  But as situations change, so too do incentives, and in business there are few guarantees as unsure as the honor among thieves.  […] Think of all the bribery stories that have come to light simply by their own accord.”

*****

A good weekend to all.

 

Friday Roundup

By on July 26, 2013 in Compliance, Deferred Prosecution Agreements, Facilitating Payments, FCPA Inc., Greens, IBM, Neither Admit or Deny, Non-Prosecution Agreement, Repeat Offenders, Restitution, Wynn Resorts, Year in Review 2013

A sign-off, no surprise, scrutiny alert, for the reading stack, spot-on, and the $10 million man.

Judge Leon Signs-Off On IBM Action

As highlighted in this prior post, in March 2011 the SEC announced an FCPA enforcement action against IBM concerning alleged conduct in South Korea and China.  The settlement terms contained a permanent injunction as to future FCPA violations and thus required judicial approval.  Similar to the Tyco FCPA enforcement action, the case sat on Judge Leon’s docket.  Last month, Judge Leon approved the Tyco settlement (see here) and yesterday Judge Leon approved the IBM settlement.

The common thread between the two enforcement actions would seem to be that both companies were repeat FCPA offenders.

Like Judge Leon’s final order in Tyco, the final order in IBM action states:

“[For a two year period IBM is required to submit annual reports] to the Commission and this Court describing its efforts to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), and to report to the Commission and this Court immediately upon learning it is reasonably likely that IBM has violated the FCPA in connection with either improper payments to foreign officials to obtain or retain business or any fraudulent books and records entries …””

For additional coverage of yesterday’s hearing, see here from Bloomberg.  The article quotes Judge Leon as follows.  IBM “has learned its lesson and is moving in the right direction to ensure this never happens again.” If there’s another violation over the next two years, “it won’t be a happy day.”

However, as noted in this previous post, IBM recently disclosed additional FCPA scrutiny.

No Surprise

This recent post highlighted the 9th Circuit’s restitution ruling in the Green FCPA enforcement action and was titled “Green Restitution Order Stands … For Now.”  As noted in the prior post, the decision practically invited the Greens to petition for an en banc hearing.

No surprise, the Greens did just that earlier this week – see here for the petition.

Scrutiny Alert

This February 2012 post detailed how Wynn Resorts $135 million donation to the University of Macau became the subject of an SEC inquiry.

Earlier this month, Wynn disclosed in an SEC filing as follows:

“On February 13, 2012, Wynn Resorts, Limited (the “Company”) filed a Report on Form 8-K disclosing that it had received a letter from the Salt Lake Regional Office (the “Office”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) advising the Company that the Office had commenced an informal inquiry with respect to certain matters, including a donation by Wynn Macau, Limited, an affiliate of the Company, to the University of Macau Development Foundation. On July 2, 2013, the Company received a letter from the Office stating that the investigation had been completed with the Office not intending to recommend any enforcement action against the Company by the SEC.”

According to this report:

“Speaking to The Associated Press from his boat on the Spanish island of Ibiza … CEO Steve Wynn said he never had any doubt federal investigators would clear the company.  ‘We were so sanguine that we never paid any attention to it; we had no exposure. It was a nonevent except for the damn newspapers.'”

For the Reading Stack

The always informative Gibson Dunn Mid-Year FCPA Update and Mid-Year DPA and NPA Update (through July 8th, approximately 30% of all DPAs/NPAs have been used to resolve FCPA enforcement actions).

Sound insight from Robertson Park and Timothy Peterson in this Inside Counsel column:

“Without putting too fine a spin on the matter, the discussion of the potential consequences faced by a company with potential anti-bribery exposure was fundamentally U.S.-centric. The dispositive question was often whether or not the potential misconduct was likely to fall under the umbrella of FCPA enforcement. Would U.S. authorities be interested in pursuing this matter? Would they find out about this matter? There were not many other concerns that mattered. Whether the site of the potential misconduct was in the European, Asian, South American or African sector, the substantial likelihood was that home authorities would have little interest in the matter, and even if they did it was likely an interest that would often frustrate and impede efforts by the Department of Justice or the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the matter. Cooperative enforcement was unlikely. This has changed. […]  For companies that learn of a potential international corruption issue, the impact of this emerging global enforcement market means that the headache associated with scoping an internal investigation is now a migraine with diverse and complex symptoms. Companies investigating potential bribery have always faced the question of how, if at all, they plan to disclose any subsequent findings to government authorities. Now, initial assessments of investigative plans in anti-bribery matters must consider a broader array of potentially interested enforcement authorities. Companies must design their anti-bribery investigations at the outset to consider not only the FCPA enforcement regime in the U.S., but also a newly energized U.K. anti-bribery law, along with a growing list of ant-bribery measures in almost all of the important jurisdictions with business growth opportunities.”

Six ways to improve in-house compliance training from Ryan McConnell and Gérard Sonnier.

The reality of facilitation payments from Matt Kelly.

“… Facilitation payments are a fact of life in global business. Nobody likes them, and no compliance officer wants to pay a bribe disguised as a facilitation payment. But when the transaction truly fits the definition of a facilitation payment—money paid to a government official, to speed up some job duty he would normally perform anyway—there shouldn’t be any ethical or legal crisis in paying it. After all, we have facilitation payments domestically in the United States. If you want a passport from the State Department, you pay $165 in fees. If you want an expedited passport, you pay an extra $60 fee and get your passport in half the usual time. That’s a facilitation payment, pure and simple. Other countries have all sorts of facilitation payments as well, say, to get a visa processed quickly or to clear goods through customs rather than let them rot on the docks. Urgent needs happen in business, and facilitation payments get you through them. That’s life.”

The language of corruption from the BBC.

Spot-On

Regardless of what you think of former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, he is spot-on with his observation that the so-called Arthur Anderson effect (i.e. if a business organization is criminally charged it will go out of business) is “overrated.”  As noted in this Corporate Crime Reporter piece, in a new book titled “Protecting Capitalism Case by Case” Spitzer writes:

“Almost all entities have the capacity to regenerate — even if under a new name, with new ownership and new leadership — and forcing them to do so will have the deterrent effect we desire.”

“Most companies would have no trouble continuing in operation once charged. They might suffer reputational harm, perhaps lose contracts, have certain loans be declared to be in default, and lose some personnel and public support. But that would probably be the proper price to be paid in the context of the violations of the law they committed.”

As noted in previous posts, the Arthur Anderson effect was effectively debunked (see here) and even Denis McInerney (DOJ, Deputy Assistant Attorney General) recently acknowledged (see here) that there is a very small chance that a company would be put out of business as a result of actual DOJ criminal charges.

In his new book Spitzer also writes as follows concerning the SEC’s neither admit nor deny settlement policy.

“I hope that the new leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission will mandate that an admission of guilt is a necessary part of future settlements in cases of this stature or magnitude. The law and justice require such an acknowledgement — or else nothing has been accomplished.”

Speaking of neither admit nor deny, part of the SEC’s talking points defense of this policy is that the SEC is not the only federal agency that makes use of such a settlement policy.

On this score, it is notable – as detailed in this Law360 article – that Bart Chilton, a top official at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, “said the commission should rethink its policy of allowing defendants to settle claims without admitting or denying the allegations.”  According to the article, Chilton stated:

“I understand there are certain circumstances where we might not want to require [admissions], but I think we at the CFTC should change our modus operandi.  The default position should be that people who violate the law should admit wrongdoing.”

$10 Million Man

Continuing with neither admit nor deny, one of the defenders of this settlement policy was Robert Khuzami while he was at the SEC as the Director of Enforcement.   As noted in this Kirkland & Ellis release, Khuzami joined the firm as a partner in the global Government, Regulatory and Internal Investigations Practice Group.  According to this New York Times article, Khuzami’s new position “pays more than $5 million per year” and is guaranteed for two years.  In joining Kirkland, the New York Times stated that Khuzami “is following quintessential Washington script: an influential government insider becoming a paid advocate for industries he once policed.”

Khuzami and former Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer were the voice and face of the SEC and DOJ last November upon release of the FCPA Guidance.  As detailed in this prior post, Breuer is currently at Covington & Burling making approximately $4 million per year.

*****

A good weekend to all.

What You Need To Know From Q2

By on July 1, 2013 in Year in Review 2013

This post provides a summary of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act activity and related developments from the second quarter of 2013.  See here for a similar post from Q1.

DOJ Enforcement (Corporate)

The DOJ resolved 3 corporate FCPA enforcement action in the second quarter.  DOJ recovery in these enforcement action was approximately $258 million.   All 3 enforcement actions were resolved via a deferred prosecution agreement (2) or a non-prosecution agreement (1). At present, none of the enforcement actions have resulted in any individual charges against company employees.

Total  (May 29th)

See here for the prior post.

Charges:  Conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions and violating the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions.

Resolution Vehicle: Criminal information resolved through a deferred prosecution agreement (3 year term).

Guidelines Range:  $235.2 to $470.4 million.

Penalty:  $245.2 million.

Disclosure:  The company disclosed as follows.  “In 2003, the SEC followed by the DOJ issued a formal order directing an investigation in connection with the pursuit of business in Iran by certain oil companies, including among others, Total.”

Monitor: Yes.

Individuals Charged: No.

Ralph Lauren (April 22nd)

See here for the prior post.

Charges:  None.

Resolution Vehicle: Non-prosecution agreement (2 year term).

Guidelines Range:  Not set forth in the NPA.

Penalty:  $882,000

Disclosure:  Voluntary disclosure.

Monitor: No.

Individuals Charged: No.

Parker Drilling (April 16th)

See here for the prior post.

Charges: FCPA’s anti-bribery violations.

Resolution Vehicle:  Criminal information resolved via a deferred prosecution agreement (3 year term).

Guidelines Range: $14.7 million to $29.4 million.

Penalty: $11.8 million.

Disclosure: Industry sweep related to Panalpina enforcement action.

Monitor: No.

Individuals Charged: No.

DOJ Enforcement (Individuals)

The DOJ announced FCPA or related charges against 11 individuals in the second quarter.  Certain of these charges were filed in 2012 or 2011, but unsealed during the second quarter.

Tomas Clark, Alejandro Hurtado, and Ernesto Lujana (see here and here).  All individuals are associated with broker-dealer, Direct Access Partners.

Frederic Pierucci, David Rothschild and William Pomponi (see here and here).  All individuals are associated with Alstom.

Frederic Cilins (see here).  Cilins is associated with BSG Resources.

Bernd Kowalewsi, Jald Jensen, Peter DuBois, and Neah Uhl (see here).  All individuals are associated with BizJet.

SEC Enforcement

The SEC resolved 4 corporate FCPA enforcement actions in the second quarter.  Total recovery in these enforcement actions was approximately $162  million.  At present, none of the enforcement actions have resulted in any individual charges against company employees.

Total (May 29th)

See here for the prior post.

Charges:   None.  Administrative cease and desist order finding violations of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions and books and records and internal control provisions.

Settlement:  Approximately $153 million in disgorgement.

Disclosure:   The company disclosed as follows.  “In 2003, the SEC followed by the DOJ issued a formal order directing an investigation in connection with the pursuit of business in Iran by certain oil companies, including among others, Total.”

Individuals Charged:  No.

Related DOJ Enforcement Action:  Yes.

Ralph Lauren (April 22nd)

See here for the prior post.

Charges:  None.  Non-prosecution agreement.

Settlement:  Approximately $735,000 ($593,000 in disgorgement and $141,845 in prejudgment interest).

Disclosure:  Voluntary disclosure.

Individuals Charged:  No.

Related DOJ Enforcement Action:  Yes.

Parker Drilling (April 16th)

See here for the prior post.

Charges:  Settled civil complaint charging violations of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions, and books and records and internal controls provisions.

Settlement:  Approximately $4 million ($3.05 million in disgorgement and approximately $1.04 million in prejudgment interest)

Disclosure: Industry sweep connected to Panalpina enforcement action

Individuals Charged:  No

Related DOJ Enforcement Action:  Yes

Koninklijke Philips Electronics (April 5th)

See here for the prior post.

Charges:  None. Administrative cease and desist order finding violations of the FCPA’s books and records and internal control provisions.

Settlement:  Approximately $4.5 million.

Disclosure: Polish law enforcement investigation prompted the company to conduct an internal investigation which it then disclosed to DOJ and SEC.

Individuals Charged:  No.

Related DOJ Enforcement Action:  No.

Other Developments

Kiobel Decision

In April, the Supreme Court released its long-awaited opinion in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum.  The precise issue before the court was “whether and under what circumstances courts may recognize a cause of action under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), for violations of the law of nations occurring within the territory of a sovereign other than the United States.”  The opinion, authored by Chief Justice Roberts, held that “the presumption against exterritoriality applies to claims under the ATS, and that nothing in the statute rebuts that presumption.”

As noted in this prior post, although Kiobel did not involve the FCPA, the logic and rationale of many justices in Kiobel has direct bearing on certain aspects of FCPA enforcement, and indeed can be viewed as Supreme Court disapproval of certain aspects of FCPA enforcement.

Over-Criminalization and FCPA Reform  Return to Capitol Hill

Over-criminalization was a topic discussed at the June 2011 House FCPA hearing.  As highlighted in this post, the topic (as well as FCPA reform) returned to Capitol Hill in June during a hearing of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Over-Criminalization Task Force.

Tough Talk From The DOJ

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman gave speeches in May and June that focused, in whole or in part, on the DOJ’s FCPA enforcement program.  As noted in this post, Raman declared “we are not going away … our efforts to fight foreign bribery are more robust than ever.  As noted in this post, Raman declared “our stellar FCPA Unit continues to go gangbusters bringing case after case.”  Both prior posts analyzed the rhetoric used in Raman’s speeches.

What You Need To Know From Q1

By on April 1, 2013 in Year in Review 2013

This post provides a summary of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act activity and related events from the first quarter of 2013.

DOJ Enforcement

The DOJ did not bring any FCPA enforcement actions in the first quarter.  The last DOJ FCPA enforcement was in September 2012 (see here).

SEC Enforcement

The SEC did not bring any FCPA enforcement actions in the first quarter.  The last SEC FCPA enforcement action was in December 2012 (see here).

Other Developments

While there were no FCPA enforcement actions in the first quarter, there were several developments of note concerning the FCPA and related topics.  On the litigation front, two decisions from the Southern District of New York concerned jurisdiction over foreign national defendants as well as other issues.

SEC v. Straub

As highlighted in this prior post, in February U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan (S.D.N.Y.) denied a motion to dismiss brought by former Magyar Telekom executives Elek Straub, Andras Balogh and Tamas Morvai (“Defendants”).  Magyar Telekom is a Hungarian telecommunications company that had shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange and previously resolved a joint DOJ/SEC enforcement action in December 2011.  (See here for the previous post).  In sum, the foreign national defendants moved to dismiss the SEC’s complaint (alleging the Defendants’ role in a bribery scheme in Macedonia) on three principal grounds:  (1) the court lacked personal jurisdiction over them; (2) the SEC’s claims were time-barred; and (3) the complaint failed to state claims for certain of its causes of action.

While obviously important to the case, Judge Sullivan’s personal jurisdiction conclusion was case-specific and the least important conclusion from the standpoint of FCPA case law.  (Whether a court can exercise personal jurisdiction over a specific defendant is a separate and distinct question from whether the jurisdictional element of an FCPA anti-bribery violation has been met – an issue also discussed in Judge Sullivan’s opinion).

Even though Judge Sullivan’s decision is a non-binding trial court decision, the two most important aspects of his decision concerned statute of limitations and the jurisdictional element of an FCPA anti-bribery violation.

As to statute of limitations, Judge Sullivan seemed to understand the logic of the Defendants’ positions, yet exhibited judicial restraint in concluding that the plain language of the applicable statute of limitations compelled the conclusion that the limitations period did not begin to run because the foreign national defendants were not physically present in the U.S.  In the words of Judge Sullivan, “it is not for this Court to second-guess Congress and amend” a statute.

As to the jurisdictional element of an FCPA anti-bribery violation, Judge Sullivan found the jurisdictional element of 78dd-1 (use of the “mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce”) to be ambiguous and he thus consulted legislative history.  In reviewing the legislative history, Judge Sullivan concluded that the corrupt intent element of the FCPA did not apply to the jurisdictional component of the FCPA.  Accordingly, Judge Sullivan concluded that e-mails routed through and/or stored on network servers located within the U.S. are sufficient to plead the jurisdictional element of an FCPA anti-bribery violation even if the defendant did not personally know where his e-mails would be routed and/or stored.

SEC v. Steffen

Shortly after the decision in Straub, Judge Shira Scheindlin (a federal court judge well versed in FCPA issues giving her involvement in the Bourke case) granted former Siemens executive Herbert Steffen’s motion to dismiss an SEC complaint in an FCPA enforcement action.  (See here for the prior post).  Because Judge Schneindlin concluded, as an initial threshold matter, that personal jurisdiction over Steffen exceeded the limits of due process, she did not address Steffen’s other challenges, including as to statute of limitations issues.  Unlike the defendants in Straub, Steffen was not alleged to have signed any management representation letters used in connection with financial reporting.

In short, Judge Scheindlin stated as follows.

“If this Court were to hold that Steffen’s support for the bribery scheme satisfied the minimum contacts analysis, even though he neither authorized the bribe, nor directed the cover up, much less played any role in the falsified filings, minimum contacts would be boundless.  […] [U]nder the SEC’s theory, every participant in illegal action taken by a foreign company subject to U.S. securities laws would be subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts no matter how attenuated their connection with the falsified financial statements.  This would be akin to a tort-like foreseeability requirement, which has long been held to be insufficient.”

The lack of FCPA enforcement actions thus far this year has also provided an opportunity to pause and consider some big-picture FCPA issues.

The Need for an FCPA Lingua Franca

A common language within a niche industry/practice is critical for any number of reasons and there is a need for an FCPA lingua franca.  The current lack of an FCPA lingua franca has all sorts of negative effects, including an impact on the quality of FCPA  enforcement and related statistics, and the general “muddying” of the “conversational waters.”  In this post, I discussed the need for a lingua franca and previously offered definitions for “what is an FCPA enforcement action” and “what is a declination” (see also here).

Why Do FCPA Violations Occur?

Why do Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations occur?  Do companies subject to the FCPA do business in foreign markets: (i) intent  on engaging in bribery as a business strategy and without a committment to  FCPA compliance; or (ii) with a committment to FCPA compliance, yet subject to  difficult business conditions?  In this post, I explored the relationship between two metrics – the World Bank’s Ease of  Doing Business Rankings and Transparency  International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.  In short, regulatory burdens (ranging from customs procedures, licensing and certification requirements, foreign government procurement policies, etc.) create bureaucracy, bureaucracy creates interactions with foreign officials, and the more interactions with foreign officials the greater the FCPA risk will be.

DOJ Enforcement Attorneys Join FCPA Inc.

First it was Nathaniel Edmonds (former Assistant Chief, DOJ Fraud Section, FCPA Unit) (see here) then it was former Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer (see here).

FCPA Reform Remains a Viable and Worthy Topic

At the FCPA Guidance press conference last November (see here), then Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer wisely noted that the Guidance was not “complete closure” to various concerns regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and he stated that the DOJ “welcomes” continued discussions regarding FCPA reform.  And why should non-binding enforcement agency Guidance be the end to FCPA reform discussions?  As Breuer and then SEC enforcement chief Robert Khuzami both acknowledged during the press conference, the Guidance “does not represent a change in policy.” And why should Wal-Mart’s potential FCPA scrutiny (one of approximately 100 companies currently the subject of FCPA scrutiny) which involves FCPA issues as a condiment to a bigger corporate governance sandwich be the end to FCPA reform discussions?  (See here for the prior post).

In the first quarter, a broad coalition of business groups called for FCPA reform (see here for the prior post) as did this White Paper from the Manhattan Institute.

The Story of George McLean

Several posts in March highlighted “The Story of George McLean.”  McLean was the first FCPA defendant in history to put the DOJ to its burden of proof in 1982.  McLean fought back, believed in his  innocence, and won.  The most amazing part of McLean’s story is that, for the most part, McLean  fought back as a pro se defendant.  Beyond being a compelling human story, McLean’s story also further  dispels the widely held myth that the DOJ has a high degree of success in FCPA enforcement actions when put to its burden of proof.  To the contrary,  before the Africa Sting defendants, before Lindsey Manufacturing, Keith Lindsey  and Steven Lee,  and before John O’Shea (all FCPA defendants who recently  ultimately prevailed against the DOJ in FCPA enforcement actions) there was George McLean.  In posts here and here George McLean told his story.

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