Ball, an Indiana corporation based in Colorado that manufactures metal packaging for household goods, food and beverages, and provides aerospace and technological services, resolved an enforcement action in which the SEC alleged it violated the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions. Conduct The SEC alleged Ball, through a subsidiary, Formametal, S.A., acquired in … Continue Reading
IBM resolved an enforcement action brought by the SEC, which alleged the company violated the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions. SEC alleged IBM subsidiaries and an IBM join-venture made illicit payments and provided gifts, travel and entertainment to Chinese and South Korean government officials for improper purposes. IBM did not admit nor … Continue Reading
Not too long ago I was clicking through the greatly improved DOJ FCPA webpage when I stumbled onto an enforcement action that had flown under the anticorruption/compliance blogosphere’s radar. Yes, Manuel Salvoch had escaped the dreaded DOJ press release, but not the Fraud Section’s posting of documents for the world to see. It was only … Continue Reading
On Friday, March 11, Jeffrey Tesler, who had challenged extradition from the UK to the US, relented in his fight and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one substantive violation of an FCPA antibribery provision. In 2009, the DOJ initially charged Tesler in an 11 count indictment consisting of … Continue Reading
In a recent post we analyzed the comments of Charles Duross, Deputy Chief, Fraud Section, Criminal Division, DOJ, at the ABA White Collar Crime annual conference. Today, we will summarize the comments of Duross’ fellow panelists — Robert Tarun, Mark Mendelsohn and Raphael Monty — all three of whom are in private practice. Tarun stated: … Continue Reading
With these words Charles Duross, Deputy Chief, Fraud Section, Criminal Division, Department of Justice – the country’s lead criminal prosecutor of FCPA – so began his comments at the recent American Bar Association White Collar Crime annual conference in San Diego, California. Duross characterized 2010 as “transformative” for the following reasons: Fraud Section Changes. Duross … Continue Reading
To date, the SEC has never charged a private equity firm for the inappropriate conduct of one of its portfolio companies (the DOJ has been involved in a few investigations: see Vetco International Ltd.; Omega Advisors; and, Leo Winston Smith). However, with recent news of both internal and external bribery-related investigations into Allianz Capital Partners … Continue Reading
The following blog post has been contributed by SSD’s Andreas Fillmann. The attorneys of a former member of Siemens AG’s management board, Thomas Ganswindt, have won a first victory in Mr. Ganswindt’s recently opened criminal trial. The trial, taking place in a Munich regional court to determine his involvement in a Siemens corruption scandal, was … Continue Reading
Recently, we wrote about the 2010 enforcement environment. Today’s post looks forward to 2011 and some things to keep an eye out for in the coming year. Without further ado: Prosecutions of Individuals. In 2010 we saw a significant number of individuals prosecuted for FCPA and related violations. A number of defendants resolved their prosecutions … Continue Reading
We had a different post planned for today (one on trends to look for in 2011, which include international cooperation), but the ruling of London appeals court takes priority. According to Law360, a London appeals court decided Jeffrey Tesler, a UK lawyer charged by the DOJ with paying more than $132 million from a former … Continue Reading
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer so stated at the American Conference Institute’s 24th National Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) late last year. The recent actions of the DOJ and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the FCPA’s dual enforcers, backed up AAG Breuer’s words. The DOJ … Continue Reading
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) has started garnering headlines around the world. It’s no wonder, considering the size of the fines and settlements extracted by the DOJ and SEC from non-U.S. companies in 2010 for violations of the FCPA. As of the date of this writing, eight of the top 10 largest settlements and … Continue Reading
The DOJ and SEC Close 2010 with an FCPA Bang! The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) closed another Foreign Corrupt Practices Act record setting year — 75 FCPA enforcement actions resolved — with a bang. In late December, the U.S. enforcement agencies, Alcatel-Lucent S.A. and several of its subsidiaries resolved … Continue Reading
Perhaps slightly overdue, but better late than never. While English is still the official version, a translation of the FCPA can now be found in the following 14 languages: Arabic Bengali Chinese (Cantonese) Chinese (Mandarin) French German Japanese Javanese Korean Malay Portuguese Russian Spanish Urdu Dick Cassin (FCPA Blog) estimates that 2.8 billion will be … Continue Reading
Russia’s hosting a great party–everyone’s invited. Who will be able to survive the hangover from Russia’s samogon (moonshine)? U.S.-based Panalpina, Inc. and its parent Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd., a Swiss freight forwarding company with 10 offices across Russia, were charged with FCPA violations that occurred in Russia. The charges were for both conspiring to … Continue Reading
