InfoBytes Blog
Filter
Subscribe to our InfoBytes Blog weekly newsletter and other publications for news affecting the financial services industry.
DOJ declines to prosecute commercial data and analytics firm, SEC issues $9 million fine for FCPA violations in China
On April 23, a commercial data and analytics firm secured a declination letter from the DOJ regarding FCPA violations stating that, “consistent with the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy,” the DOJ would be declining to bring criminal charges against the company. The firm simultaneously agreed to settle with the SEC regarding books and records and internal controls violations regarding the same conduct, and pay a total of $9 million, including a $2 million civil penalty and $6 million of disgorgement. The firm had self-disclosed payments made by two Chinese subsidiaries through third party agents. One of the subsidiaries, part of a joint venture with a Chinese company, made payments to Chinese government officials to acquire non-public financial statement information on Chinese entities. The other subsidiary made improper payments both to obtain specific business and to acquire non-public personal data. The SEC noted that there were pre-acquisition concerns regarding the subsidiaries, but the firm failed to take appropriate action to stop the payments or the false entries, which continued for several years after the acquisition.
This is the first instance we are aware of a company receiving a full declination from the DOJ under the new policy. The policy, which grew out of the FCPA Pilot Program, states that when a company voluntarily self-discloses, fully cooperates, and timely and appropriately remediates, there will be a presumption that the DOJ will issue a declination. The firm's declination letter notes the company’s self-identification and disclosure, thorough investigation, and full cooperation, including identifying all individuals involved in the misconduct. The DOJ also cited the company’s “full remediation,” in part by terminating 11 employees, including senior employees, and reducing compensation and other forms of discipline.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Announces Expansion of FCPA Pilot Program
On November 29, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein issued remarks announcing that the DOJ’s FCPA Pilot Program will be made permanent and expanded to provide greater incentives for more companies to voluntarily disclose potential FCPA violations. The new program will be formally incorporated into the US Attorney’s Manual. These changes will include greater potential benefits offered to companies that promptly disclose suspected FCPA violations.
Rosenstein identified three components of what will be called the “FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy.” First, companies who voluntarily disclose, fully cooperate with the DOJ’s investigation, and undertake “timely and appropriate remediation” will be entitled to a presumption that the matter will be resolved through a declination, which “may be overcome only if there are aggravating circumstances related to the nature and seriousness of the offense, or if the offender is a criminal recidivist.” Second, if the company satisfies all other requirements but there are “aggravating circumstances,” the DOJ “will recommend a 50% reduction off the low end of the Sentencing Guidelines fine range,” although “criminal recidivists may not be eligible for such credit.” And third, the policy will provide details on how the DOJ “evaluates an appropriate compliance program, which will vary depending on the size and resources of a business.”
The Pilot Program began in April 2016. It was greeted with some skepticism that the benefits of disclosure would outweigh the potential benefits, as Rosenstein noted in his remarks. Click here to view previous FCPA Scorecard coverage of the Pilot Program.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Issues Remarks on Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein recently issued remarks highlighting the importance of the DOJ’s consistency in enforcing policies “hold[ing] individuals accountable for corporate wrongdoing.” In particular, Deputy AG Rosenstein stated that the agency should focus on improving the recent track record of bringing criminal proceedings against company employees and commented that “consistency promotes fairness and enhances respect for the rule of law.” His remarks also touched on the Yates Memo and the FCPA Pilot Program, noting the appropriateness of focusing on individual officer or director liability.
The comments are yet another in the steady drumbeat of calls, both internal and external to the DOJ, for DOJ enforcement strategy to hold individual corporate employees accountable for FCPA violations, although how much that strategy is being implemented remains to be seen. A recent review of DOJ corporate FCPA enforcement actions notes that the last 20 such actions have lacked related criminal charges against company employees, and going back to 2008, approximately 80% of DOJ corporate FCPA enforcement actions have lacked related criminal charges against company employees. As Deputy AG Rosenstein’s comments concluded: “When we are serious about wanting people to follow rules, it does no good merely to post them. We need to make clear our intent to enforce the rules, with sufficient vigor that people fear the consequences of violating them.”
Engineering and Construction Firm Receives Declination of FCPA Charges
On June 21, the DOJ issued a declination letter to attorneys for a Boston-based privately held engineering and construction firm, in which the DOJ declined prosecution and closed an investigation of the firm regarding potential FCPA violations that occurred in India between 2011 and 2015. The firm agreed to pay DOJ approximately $4 million in disgorgement. The DOJ announced the declination on June 29 with a link posted on its website, making it the second FCPA declination that the DOJ announced in June 2017. Prior to June, the DOJ had last issued an FCPA declination letter in September 2016.
According to the DOJ Letter, the firm paid approximately $1.18 million in bribes to India government officials in exchange for contracts that resulted in approximately $4 million in net profits (the disgorgement amount). The payments were made by the firm's division responsible for India operations and by the firm's wholly-owned subsidiary in India through fraudulent subcontractors and generally equaled two to four percent of the contract price.
The DOJ’s letter stated that its decision to close its investigation is consistent with the FCPA Pilot Program, launched in April 2016 to encourage companies to “voluntarily self-disclose FCPA-related misconduct, fully cooperate with the Fraud Section, and, where appropriate, remediate flaws in their controls and compliance programs.” Accordingly, the DOJ determined that the firm had, among other things, made a “timely and voluntary self-disclosure” of potential FCPA violations, conducted and “thorough and comprehensive investigation,” fully cooperated with the DOJ, and performed full remediation, including the termination of all of the executives and employees involved in the conduct at issue. However, the letter provides little detail about these factors.
The DOJ letter makes clear that it does not foreclose future prosecution of any individuals connected to this matter, whether affiliated with the firm or otherwise.
DOJ’s Trevor McFadden Addresses Anti-Corruption, Export Controls & Sanctions Compliance Summit
On April 18, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Trevor McFadden spoke at the 10th annual Anti-Corruption, Export Controls & Sanctions Compliance Summit in Washington, D.C. According to Mr. McFadden, the Justice Department “remains committed to enforcing the FCPA and to prosecuting fraud and corruption more generally.” He emphasized the importance of company cooperation, stating that that the department considers voluntary self-disclosures and remedial efforts when making charging decisions. Mr. McFadden also stated that the department is making a “concerted effort to move corporate investigations expeditiously,” adding that FCPA investigations should be “measured in months, not years.”
Mr. McFadden also discussed an increased prioritization of anti-corruption prosecutions around the world and stated that the DOJ will “seek to reach global resolutions that apportion penalties between the relevant jurisdictions so that companies that want to accept responsibility for misconduct are not unfairly penalized by multiple agencies.”
Additionally, the department is assessing its FCPA Pilot Program. Last year, as part of the Program, the department began publishing information on cases it declined to prosecute due to voluntary self-disclosure, full cooperation, and comprehensive remediation. Mr. McFadden stated that the Program is “one example of an effort to provide more transparency and consistency for our corporate resolutions” and “will continue in full force.”
DOJ Pilot Program Extended to Provide Adequate Time for Evaluation
Speaking at the American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime yesterday, U.S. Department of Justice official Kenneth Blanco reportedly announced that the Justice Department’s FCPA pilot program encouraging corporate cooperation will not end on April 5 of this year as originally announced. Instead, until the Justice Department is able to render a final decision based on a complete evaluation, the program will remain in force. Notably, as previously reported, the new Deputy Assistant Attorney General with oversight over the Fraud Section, Trevor N. McFadden, co-authored an article during his time in the private sector praising the program as “a step forward in providing companies and their counsel with more transparent and predictable benefits for self-reporting, cooperating, and remediating FCPA misconduct.”