This post provides a summary of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement activity and related developments from the first quarter of 2021.
DOJ Enforcement (Corporate)
The DOJ brought one corporate FCPA enforcement action in the first quarter. DOJ recovery in this action was $79.6 million.
Deutsche Bank (Jan. 8th)
See here and here for prior posts.
Charges: Conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions
Resolution Vehicle: Deferred Prosecution Agreement
Guidelines Range: $70.7 million to $141.4 million
Settlement: $79.6 million
Origin: Not specified in the resolution documents
Monitor: No
Individuals Charged: No
DOJ Enforcement (Individual)
The DOJ did not announce any FCPA enforcement actions in the first quarter. Nevertheless, as highlighted here, a criminal complaint against Jorge Cherrez Mino (an individual who served as the manager, president and director of a U.S. Investment Fund) provides a jurisdictional basis for FCPA anti-bribery offenses and indeed alleges that Cherrez violated the FCPA, even though the complaint only charges money laundering offenses.
SEC Enforcement (Corporate)
The SEC brought one corporate FCPA enforcement action in the first quarter. SEC recovery in this action was $43 million.
Deutsche Bank (Jan. 8th)
See here and here for prior posts.
Charges: None (administrative order findings violations of the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions)
Settlement: $43 million
Origin: Not specified in the resolution documents
Individuals Charged: No
Related DOJ Enforcement Action: Yes
SEC Enforcement (Individual)
The SEC did not announce any new FCPA enforcement actions in the first quarter. However, as highlighted here approximately 4.5 years after its enforcement action against former Och-Zifff executive Joel Frank, the SEC ordered Frank to pay a $35,000 civil penalty.
Other Developments or Items of Interest
As highlighted here, an SEC Commissioner called the SEC’s approach to corporate penalties “fundamentally flawed.”
As highlighted in this post, a Hong Kong court found a former JP Morgan executive not guilty of bribery in connection with the company’s “sons and daughters” internship and hiring program – the same program at issue in a $203 million FCPA enforcement action against the company in 2016.
As discussed in this post, bills previously introduced in Congress to divert FCPA settlements from simply going into the U.S. Treasury were re-introduced in the new Congress.
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