InfoBytes Blog
European banks resolve Mozambican bond offerings matter
On October 19, multiple agencies—the DOJ, SEC and UK’s FCA—announced a coordinated resolution with a European bank related to debt offerings for entities in Mozambique. (See here and here.) In total, fines to U.S. and U.K. authorities reached almost $475 million, and the institution also agreed to forgive $200 million of the debt.
In a related action, a London-based subsidiary of a Russian bank (bank) separately agreed to pay over $6 million to settle SEC charges related to its role in a second 2016 bond offering. According to the SEC’s order, the second offering as structured by the bank and reespondent permitted investors “to exchange their loan participation notes (LPNs) for a direct sovereign bond issued by the Republic of Mozambique” in an earlier bond offering. However, the SEC alleged that the offering materials distributed and marketed by the respondent and bank “failed to disclose the full nature of Mozambique’s indebtedness and, relatedly, its risk of default on the notes.” Furthermore, the SEC alleged that proceeds from the financing from the respondent and bank were supposed to be used exclusively for maritime projects, but in reality, without the bank’s knowledge, only a portion of the loan proceeds was applied towards maritime projects while the rest was diverted to pay kickbacks and make improper payments to Mozambican government officials. Mozambique later defaulted on the financings after the full extent of “secret” debt was revealed.