As highlighted in this prior post, in mid-2022 Stericycle (an Illinois based medical waste disposal company) resolved a net $59 million parallel DOJ and SEC enforcement action concerning conduct in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.
The DOJ enforcement action involved a criminal information charging Stericycle with two counts of conspiracy to violate (1) the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions, and (2) the FCPA’s books and records provision. The criminal charges were resolved via this deferred prosecution agreement pursuant to which Stericycle agreed to pay a net $35 million criminal penalty.
As a condition of settlement, the DOJ required Stericycle to engage an independent compliance monitor and the monitor was retained in November 2022 and the DPA was set to expire in November 2025.
Recently, the DOJ moved to dismiss the action stating “Stericycle has fully met its disclosure obligations under the DPA, including full cooperation with the Government, implementation of an enhanced compliance program and procedures, and satisfaction of the terms of the provisions regarding self-reporting. Stericycle has also made significant changes to its business model to reduce its anticorruption risk profile, which greatly reduced the likelihood of recurrence of the misconduct charged in the Information.”
Another example of the impact of President Trump’s February 10th Executive “pausing” FCPA enforcement?
Not so fast.
The 2022 DPA specifically stated as follows: “in the event the Fraud Section finds, in its sole discretion, that there exists a change in circumstances sufficient to eliminate the need for the monitorship […] and that the other provisions of this Agreement have been satisfied, the Agreement may be terminated early.”
In November 2024, Waste Management acquired Stericycle.
