Société Générale settles FCPA allegations concerning bribery of Libyan officials

DOJ Société Générale S.A. France Bribery Legg Mason

On June 4, the DOJ announced that Société Générale S.A., a Paris-based multinational bank, and its wholly owned subsidiary SGA Société Générale Acceptance N.V., agreed to pay $585 million to resolve charges in the United States and France involving bribes to Libyan officials. According to the DOJ, Société Générale will enter into a deferred prosecution agreement related to charges of conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions. Société Générale’s subsidiary will also plead guilty in the Eastern District of New York to similar charges. Almost $293 million of the resolution will be paid to France and credited by the U.S. This is the first coordinated anti-bribery enforcement action by the DOJ and French authorities. 

Société Générale admitted that it had paid over $90 million in bribes through a Libyan broker in connection with 14 investments made by state-owned financial institutions in Libya. For each transaction, Société Générale paid the Libyan broker a commission, some of which the Libyan broker then paid to high ranking Libyan officials to secure the investments for Société Générale from the state institutions. This scheme resulted in Société Générale obtaining 13 investments and one restructuring from the Libyan state institutions, and earning approximately $523 million in profits. The scheme also involved payments for the benefit of a Legg Mason subsidiary; Legg Mason resolved its FCPA issues with the DOJ on the same day.

As part of the same deferred prosecution agreement, Société Générale also agreed to pay $275 million to resolve charges arising from manipulation of U.S.-dollar and Japanese yen LIBOR.