FCPA Scorecard Blog
International Bribery Charges Against Broker-Dealer Employees Result from SEC Exam
On May 7, the DOJ charged two employees of a U.S. broker-dealer and a senior official in Venezuela's state economic development bank for their alleged roles in what the DOJ describes as a "massive international bribery scheme." According to an unsealed criminal complaint, the DOJ accuses the broker-dealer employees and the foreign official of violating the FCPA by conspiring to pay $5 million in bribes to the foreign official in exchange for her directing the economic development bank's trading business to the broker-dealer, which yielded millions more in mark-ups and mark-downs for the broker-dealer. The government alleges that commissions paid on the directed trades were split with the foreign official through monthly kickbacks and that some of the trades executed for the bank had no discernible business purpose. To further conceal the scheme, the government claims, the kickbacks often were paid using intermediary corporations and offshore accounts, the assets of which the government is pursuing through a separate civil forfeiture action. On the same day, the SEC announced a parallel civil action against the two broker-dealer employees and two other individuals who allegedly participated in and profited from the scheme. The investigations and subsequent criminal and civil charges stemmed from a routine periodic SEC examination of the broker-dealer. The DOJ warned others in the financial services industry, particularly brokers, about engaging in similar activities, and the SEC's conduct in this case suggests its examiners are focused on conduct that potentially violates the FCPA.
- United States of America v. Clarke et al. Complaint
- Securities and Exchange Commission v. Clarke et al. Complaint