FCPA Enforcement Actions
DOJ Declines to Prosecute Safran S.A. for alleged FCPA violations
Those involved. Safran S.A., a French aerospace engine manufacturer.
Charges with penalties. Safran agreed to disgorge $17 million to the SEC in ill-gotten profits.
What happened? Safran’s U.S. and German subsidiaries were alleged to have paid millions of dollars in bribes to a close relative of a former senior Chinese official to secure contracts for train lavatories. The misconduct allegedly occurred prior to Safran’s acquisition of the companies and was identified in post-acquisition due diligence. While DOJ declined to prosecute Safran for alleged violations of the U.S. subsidiary, it deferred to German authorities as to the penalty imposed on the German subsidiary. Additionally, as noted above, Safran agreed to disgorge $17 million in profits to the SEC.
The DOJ declination letter can be found here.
Notably. The declination underscores the importance of due diligence even post-acquisition and during integration. When violations are discovered, DOJ’s voluntary disclosure mechanism continues to be an option for potentially avoiding criminal penalties.
ABB Agrees to pay over $462 million to settle FCPA investigations
For more details about this matter, please refer to the Bass, Berry, and Sims blog, which can be found here. In addition, the DOJ press release can be found here, and the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) between DOJ and ABB can be found here.
Honeywell to pay over $160 million to DOJ and SEC ending Civil and Criminal Investigations
For more details about this matter, please refer to the Bass, Berry, and Sims blog, which can be found here. In addition, the DPA between DOJ and Honeywell can be found here, and the SEC’s administrative order resolving the matter can be found here.
BIS Updates to Lists, Orders Denying Export Privileges
BIS List Updates
On December 16, BIS announced significant updates to the EL and to the Unverified List (UVL), as follows:
Added 36 entities, the majority of which are located in China and involved in work in support of China’s military, to the EL;
Revised details related to certain existing EL entries;
Removed 26 entities from China and one from Pakistan from the UVL after receiving End-User Certificates (EUCs) from the entities; and
Transitioned 9 Russian parties from the UVL to the Entity List because their bona fides could not be verified through an EUC.
The BIS press release can be found here.
6 International Trade Enforcement Roundup |
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