Talk about a head-scratching moment.
If you are even an occasional attendee or participant of anti-bribery and corruption conferences you likely know or recognize Jean-Daniel Lainé who, prior to his retirement in April 2013, was Senior Vice President Ethics & Compliance, and a director of Alstom International Limited. Laine currently runs jdl.ethiconsult.
As highlighted in this 2010 article, “since 2006, Laine has overseen the rapid development of Alstom’s compliance and ethics programmes, as the threat of corruption investigations has risen up the agenda for companies around the world.”
The article quotes him as follows. “I know a lot of my peers in the compliance community. I participate in a lot of conferences on the anti-corruption subject. I have the opportunity to review all these topics and issues, and I consider that we are among the best in class.”
Among other things, Laine co-authored the Risk Assessment Chapter of the International Chamber of Commerce’s Ethics and Compliance Training Handbook (see here for a video interview) and Laine was a frequent writer on compliance topics, see here for instance “How Do You Manage Third Party Relationship Risks?”
Against this backdrop, it comes as a shocker to say the least that yesterday the U.K. Serious Fraud Office announced:
“Mr Lainé, 68, … a French national … attended court to answer two charges of corruption contrary to section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, as well as two offences of conspiracy to corrupt contrary to section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977. The alleged offences are said to have taken place between 1 January 2006 and 18 October 2007 and concern the supply of trains to the Budapest Metro.”
As noted in the SFO release, also charged was Michael John Anderson and named as a co-conspirator with Mr Anderson and Mr Lainé is Altan Cledwyn-Davies, director and company secretary of Alstom International Ltd. Mr Cledwyn-Davies died in 2010 before charges were brought.
As further noted in the SFO release:
“In July 2014 the SFO charged Alstom Network UK Ltd, and British nationals Graham Hill and Robert Hallett with corruption in India, Poland and Tunisia. That matter awaits trial in May 2016. In addition, the SFO charged Alstom Power Ltd, Nicholas Reynolds and Johanes Venskus with corruption in Lithuania. That matter awaits trial in January 2017.”
See prior posts here and here for recent Alstom-related enforcement actions in the U.S.
