Yesterday’s post compared corporate FCPA enforcement actions in 2018 to prior years. However, before a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action is announced, scrutiny must first arise.
Today’s post highlights the origins of 2018 corporate enforcement actions. (See here for a similar post highlighting the origins of 2017 corporate enforcement actions and here for 2016 corporate enforcement actions).
As highlighted in the post, like prior years, 2018 corporate enforcement actions originated in a variety of ways from voluntary disclosures, to pro-active government investigations and industry sweeps, to foreign law enforcement investigations.
Voluntary Disclosure (7)
- Elbit Imaging
- Dunn & Bradstreet
- Beam
- Insurance Corp. of Barbados
- Sanofi (media reports suggest a voluntary disclosure, however the SEC’s order is silent on this topic)
- United Technologies
- Polcyom
Pro-Active Government Investigation / Subpoena (4)
- Kinross Gold – the company previously disclosed: “[The FCPA scrutiny] related to allegations of improper payments made to government officials and certain internal control deficiencies at the Company’s West African mining operations, which Kinross first became aware of in August 2013. The Company immediately commenced an internal investigation into the allegations in accordance with its Whistleblower Policy. In March 2014, the SEC commenced an investigation seeking information and documents relating to these allegations, and in December 2014, the DOJ commenced a similar investigation. On October 2, 2015, the Company publicly disclosed the SEC and DOJ investigations.”
- Panasonic – according to a March 2013 media report: “U.S. authorities are investigating whether [Panasonic Avionics Corp. (“PAC”) a U.S.-based subsidiary of Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp. that makes in-flight entertainment and communications systems for airlines] paid bribes abroad to land business.”
- Société Générale – the company received a subpoena from the DOJ in April 2014
- Legg Mason – unclear from the resolution documents and the company did not disclose its FCPA scrutiny well in advance of the enforcement action as is typical (see here) but connected to the Société Générale announced on the same day.
- Stryker – as stated in the SEC’s order: “In response to the Commission’s investigation, Stryker retained outside counsel and forensic auditors to conduct an internal investigation into the company’s compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) concerning Stryker’s activities in India, China, and Kuwait.”
Foreign (Brazil) Law Enforcement Investigation (3)
- Petrobras
- Vantage Drilling
- Eletrobras
Industry Sweep (1)
- Credit Suisse – according to media reports – “Since opening a bribery investigation into JPMorgan [in Spring 2013], the authorities have expanded the inquiry to include hiring at other big banks. Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have previously been identified as coming under scrutiny.”
Unclear (1)
- Transport Logistics International
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