Tag Archives: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

DOJ and SEC Release Second Edition to FCPA Resource Guide

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quietly released updated guidance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) before the Fourth of July holiday weekend.  Entitled A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Second Edition[1] (“Guide”), the Guide is the first update to the original document published … Continue Reading

Hoskins May Limit Extraterritorial Enforcement of U.S. Sanctions

The Second Circuit’s recent decision in United States v. Hoskins may impact enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions programs. The Hoskins decision precludes the government from charging a foreign national acting abroad with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) through theories of conspiracy and accomplice liability. This holding is equally applicable to U.S. sanctions law.… Continue Reading

SEC Staying the Course on FCPA Enforcement

In remarks at NYU’s Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement, Steven Peikin, the new Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, voiced a question that has been on the minds of many anticorruption practitioners and compliance professionals: Will the SEC continue to be committed to robust FCPA enforcement?”   “My answer to that question is simple,” Peikin … Continue Reading

DOJ’s Criminal Division Launches new FCPA Pilot Program

In an effort to enhance its ability to investigate and prosecute Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division has launched a new one-year FCPA pilot program effective April 5, 2016. The program has three main goals: Motivate companies to voluntarily self-disclose FCPA-related misconduct Motivate companies to fully cooperate with … Continue Reading

Nordam Group Settles China FCPA Violations

On July 17, 2012, Nordam Group, Inc. (“Nordam”) an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (“MRO”) service provider based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, entered into a three-year non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the DOJ to resolve violations of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions. Conduct According to the NPA, from 1999 until 2008, Nordam, its subsidiaries and affiliates paid bribes … Continue Reading

Orthofix International Resolves FCPA Investigation

Orthofix International N.V. (“Orthofix”) entered into a consent to final judgment with the SEC and a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ to resolve FCPA violations by its Mexican subsidiary. Although the DOJ enforcement action involved a criminal information which remains sealed until a plea is entered in open court, the deferred prosecution agreement indicates … Continue Reading

Practical Guidance on How to Conduct FCPA Due Diligence

The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission have stressed the need for companies to conduct FCPA due diligence before entering into transactions with third parties or buying another company.  The DOJ and SEC have levied stiff fines on companies that have not heeded their advice once violations of the FCPA have been discovered.  … Continue Reading

Former CCI Executive Cops Plea

Paul Cosgrove, the former head of worldwide sales at California-based valve manufacturer Control Components Inc. (CCI) pleaded guilty yesterday to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  Cosgrove is the fourth of six company executives to plead guilty to violating or conspiring to violate the FCPA. Cosgrove was previously scheduled to stand trial on June … Continue Reading

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Seeks Guidance Concerning the FCPA

On February 21, 2012 The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) sent a letter to the DOJ requesting guidance on “several issues and questions of significant concern to businesses seeking in good faith to comply with the FCPA.”  The ILR raised the following issues: “Instrumentalities”: The ILR sought clarification on what types of … Continue Reading

John Joseph O’Shea Acquitted of All Substantive FCPA Counts

Conduct Following the close of the prosecution’s case on a trial for charges arising under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), John Joseph O’Shea (“O’Shea”) was acquitted of all substantive FCPA counts, with the court (Southern District of Texas) finding that O’Shea’s conduct could be reasonably explained by lawful motives.  O’Shea, a former general manager … Continue Reading

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement – 2011 Year In Review

2011 was another banner year for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiating 23 and 25 enforcement actions, respectively, and collecting nearly $355 million and $148 million in fines.  Numerous individual defendants were prosecuted under the FCPA, some successfully, and some not … Continue Reading

Magyar Telekom, Deutsche Telekom Settle FCPA-Related Actions

Magyar Telekom Plc and its majority owner Deutsche Telekom AG have agreed to pay a total of approximately $95 million in penalties arising from alleged violations of the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) stemming from conduct in Macedonia and Montenegro. Conduct Between 2005 and 2006, former executives … Continue Reading

Bribery Charges Dismissed Against Former Schnitzer Steel Executive

On October 14, 2011, the DOJ dismissed bribery charges against Si Chan Wooh, the former Executive Vice President and head of Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc.’s (“Schnitzer Steel”) Tacoma, Washington based subsidiary SSI International which oversaw Schnitzer Steel’s South Korean subsidiary, SSI Korea. Back in 2007, Wooh previously entered into a cooperation agreement with the DOJ … Continue Reading

SEC Issues FCPA Cease and Desist Order as to Watts Water Technologies, General Manager of Chinese Subsidiary

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has issued an administrative cease and desist order as to Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (“Watts”), a water valve designer and retailer, and Leesen Chang (“Chang”), former general manager of Watts Valve Changsha Co., a wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary of Watts. Conduct Between 2006 and 2009, Chang, on behalf of Watts’s … Continue Reading

Comverse Technologies Inc. and the DOJ and SEC Settle Up

Comverse Technologies Inc. (CTI), a New York based provider of software for communication and billing services, resolved Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions brought by the DOJ and SEC arising out of the acts of an indirectly owned overseas subsidiary and the subsidiary’s third party agent.  CTI resolved the DOJ investigation via an NPA, … Continue Reading

Washington, London and Athens Come Calling for Johnson & Johnson

In a sign of things to come, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and J&J wholly-owned subsidiaries Depuy, Inc. (DePuy) and DePuy International Limited (DePuy International) resolved corruption related investigations on both sides of the Atlantic on Friday, April 8. Conduct  J&J, a New Jersey based issuer, resolved FCPA enforcement actions brought by the DOJ and SEC … Continue Reading

Has the DOJ’s Ship Sailed from Bonny Island?

With the last member of the infamous TSKJ joint-venture resolving FCPA charges this week, has the DOJ finally closed the door on its very lucrative Bonny Island investigation?  JGC, a Japanese company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, resolved an FCPA enforcement action brought by the DOJ concerning JGC’s participation in the Bonny Island, Nigeria, bribery scheme.  … Continue Reading

SEC Moves to Require Companies to Report Use of “Conflict Minerals”

Squire Sanders‘ James Barresi writes that in April, the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to issue new regulations requiring companies to disclose whether their production utilizes “conflict minerals” from the Congo or an adjoining country. The SEC’s new rules may prove to be a headache for companies that use small amounts of conflict minerals and … Continue Reading

The Bar Speaks Out on the FCPA at the ABA White Collar Conference

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

“2010 Was a Transformative Year”

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

The FCPA Green Room: Private Equity May Be Next

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

What to Look for in 2011

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

Breaking News: Another Possible FCPA Extradition from the UK.

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
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