‘Enforcement 40’ for 2020
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Join the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group on LinkedInWorld Acceptance Corporation pays SEC $21.7 million to resolve “bags of cash” FCPA offenses | The FCPA Blog
World Acceptance Corporation agreed Thursday to pay the SEC $21.7 million in penalties and disgorgement to resolve FCPA offenses in Mexico. In an internal administrative order, the SEC charged WAC with violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions. The consumer loan company agreed to disgorge $17.8 million plus prejudgment interest of […]
DOJ and SEC Release Second Edition of the FCPA Resource Guide | WilmerHale
On July 3, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission released the second edition of the Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (2020 Guide). The 2020 Guide refreshes the prior edition by incorporating significant policies that have been released by the DOJ since the first edition. The 2020 […]
Former Goldman banker accused in foreign bribery scheme | Financial Times
A former Goldman Sachs banker helped pass millions of dollars in bribes to Ghanaian officials to curry favour for his clients’ plans to build an electrical power plant, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged on Monday. The SEC said in a complaint filed in New York that Asante Berko “took deliberate measures to prevent his employer from […]
FCPA Conviction Verdict of Former Alstom SA Exec. Tossed
On February 26, 2020, Judge Janet Bond Arterton, a federal judge for the District of Connecticut, overturned a former Alstom SA executive’s conviction under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) relating to a project to build power plants in Indonesia. Judge Arterton found that, despite a jury verdict to the contrary, prosecutors failed to prove […]
Trump Tried to Kill Anti-Bribery Rule He Deemed ‘Unfair,’ New Book Alleges – The New York Times
President Trump wanted to strike down a law that prohibits companies from bribing foreign officials, calling the ban “so unfair” to American companies, two Washington Post reporters recount in a new book. In the spring of 2017, Mr. Trump was at a briefing with Rex W. Tillerson, then the secretary of state, and aides in […]
SEC Charges Former Goldman Sachs Executive With FCPA Violations
According to the SEC’s order, beginning in 2012, Leissner, as participating managing director of Goldman Sachs, used a third party intermediary to bribe high-ranking government officials in Malaysia and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The order finds that these bribes enabled Goldman Sachs to obtain lucrative business from 1Malaysia Development Berhard (1MDB), a Malaysian government owned […]
SEC Charges Multinational Telecommunications Company With FCPA Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Sweden-based Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson was charged with engaging in a large-scale bribery scheme involving the use of sham consultants to secretly funnel money to government officials in multiple countries. The bribes netted Ericsson hundreds of millions in profits. To resolve these alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practice […]
FCPA “Tips” Continue To Be A Minor Component Of The SEC’s Whistleblower Program – FCPA Professor
Recently, the SEC released its annual report for FY2019 and, like the prior eight years, FCPA “tips” continue to be a minor component of the SEC’s whistleblower program. Specifically, according to the SEC’s report, of the 5,200 whistleblower tips received by the SEC in FY2019, 200 (3.8%) related to the FCPA. This percentage of FCPA […]
Correction, Mr. Clayton. Other countries are also acting against international graft | The FCPA Blog
These are all reasons why Mr. Clayton would be wrong to lump the SFO – and by extension, the UK – with those countries he sees as falling short when it comes to tackling bribery and corruption. But it would also be wrong to think the UK is the only nation taking a more aggressive […]
Does The SEC Really Even Need A Specific FCPA Unit? – FCPA Professor
In fiscal year 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission created a specialized unit (one of only five in its enforcement division “dedicated to particular highly specialized and complex areas of securities law“) devoted to enforcing the FCPA. The question arises however: does the SEC really even need a specific FCPA unit? via Does The SEC […]