SEC Charges FCPA Officer With FCPA Violations

In what Compliance Week editor Matt Kelly characterized here as an “Ooof” moment, the SEC charged a former vice president of Pride International, Inc. with violations of the FCPA relating to bribes paid to foreign officials in Mexico and Venezuela. The SEC alleges that the defendant, Bobby Benton, was actually “responsible for, among other things, ensuring that Pride conducted its Western Hemisphere operations in compliance with the FCPA.” Ooof, indeed. Full details are available in this post on my Enforcement Action blog over at Compliance Week.