Yesterday’s post highlighted how during her tenure as SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has objected (in whole or in part) to approximately 65% of the corporate FCPA enforcement actions.
While no other SEC Commissioner comes close to matching Peirce’s objections, set forth below are several other instances in which SEC Commissioners have objected (in whole or in part) to corporate FCPA enforcement actions.
As detailed below, Commissioners Elad Roisman (appointed by President Trump and sworn into office on September 11, 2018), Kara Stein (appointed by President Obama and who served between August 2013 – January 2019), and Michael Piwowar (appointed by President Obama and who served between August 2013 – May 2017) have also objected (in whole or in part) to corporate FCPA enforcement actions.
- Barclays (2019) – Roisman objected to the civil penalty.
- Cognizant Technology (2019) – Roisman objected to the civil penalty.
- Polycom (2018) – Roisman objected to the civil penalty.
- Vantage Drilling (2018) – Stein voted not to approve.
- Dun & Bradstreet (2018) – Piwowar voted not approve.
- Halliburton (2017) – Stein as stated by the SEC “Approved except as to Halliburton Company’s offer to settle this matter by consenting to the issuance of an order that requires it to cease-and-desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and (B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, disgorge ill-gotten gains of $14,000,000 along with prejudgment interest of $1,200,000, pay a civil penalty of $14,000,000, and retain an independent consultant for 18 months to review certain policies and procedures.”
- Orthofix (2017) – Piwowar objected to the civil penalty.
- General Cable (2016) – Piwowar objected to the civil penalty.
See here for the SEC voting records (which only go back to 2016).
