Tenaris Poised to Join the FCPA Repeat Offender Club
The list of FCPA repeat offenders is long and may grow in the future.
In 2011, Tenaris S.A. (a company headquartered in Luxembourg with American Depository Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange) resolved an approximate $9 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action regarding conduct in Uzbekistan (see here for the prior post).
For several years, Tenaris has been under scrutiny for its relationship with Petrobras in Brazil and in October 2016 the company “voluntarily notified” the SEC and DOJ.
Tenaris recently disclosed:
“The Company continues to respond to requests from and otherwise cooperate with the appropriate authorities. The Company has engaged in discussions with the SEC and DOJ towards a potential resolution of the investigation. There are no assurances that the discussions with the SEC or the DOJ will result in a final resolution of the investigation or, if a resolution is achieved, the timing, scope and turns of any such resolution. At this time, the Company cannot predict the outcome of these matters or estimate the range of potential loss or extent of risk, if any, to the Company’s business that may result from the resolution of these matters.”
Bombardier’s Scrutiny Grows
The United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office recently issued this release stating: “The SFO confirms it is investigating Bombardier Inc over suspected bribery and corruption in relation to contracts and / or orders from Garuda Indonesia. As this is a live investigation, the SFO can provide no further comment.”
As highlighted in this prior post post, in mid-2019 it was reported:
“Bombardier Inc. is hiring an independent organization to review its procedures for doing business in foreign markets in the wake of allegations that company officials used corruption and collusion to win a rail contract in Azerbaijan. The Canadian airplane and train maker said in its second-quarter financial statements that it will work with a third-party group chosen by Export Development Canada “to evaluate our existing due diligence processes.” EDC helps Canadian exporters through insurance and financing and has been involved in billions of dollars of Bombardier contracts in overseas markets.”
