Members of the Squire Sanders China team have written the China chapter to the fifth edition of Getting the Deal Through – Anti-Corruption Regulation 2011, which provides international analysis in key areas of law and policy for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners and business people (available here). Following the format adopted throughout the series, our China team has… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Ex-CEO of Telecom Company Pleads Guilty In Honduras Bribe Case
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Honduras, TelecommunicationsLast week, Jorge Granados, former chief executive officer of Miami-based Latin Node, Inc. (Latinode) pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes to government officials in Honduras. The DOJ press release is here. This is the latest chapter in the on-going saga of Latinode and its former executives who allegedly violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act… Continue Reading
SEC Enters Into First FCPA-Related Deferred Prosecution Agreement
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices ActFor the first time in its history of bringing FCPA enforcement actions, the SEC has entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement with a corporate defendant, potentially signaling the start of a trend of tougher SEC action against alleged violators of the FCPA. Conduct Tenaris, a Luxembourg-based global steel pipe supplier and manufacturer, entered into a two-year… Continue Reading
First Jury Verdict Rendered Against FCPA Corporate Defendant
Posted in Energy, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, MexicoLast week, corporate defendant Lindsey Manufacturing, Inc. (“Lindsey Manufacturing”) was convicted of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for allegedly bribing and conspiring to bribe representatives of a state-owned Mexican utility through a third party intermediary. The Department of Justice’s press release on the case can be found here. Conduct The Department of Justice… Continue Reading
FCPA Inspired Bribery Act To Hit Oil & Gas Industry Hardest
Posted in Oil & Gas, UK Bribery ActThe UK’s Bribery Act, scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2011, will have the most significant impact on the oil and gas industry, according to research by Ernst & Young. Ernst & Young’s findings are based on an analysis of bribery prosecutions under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) over the last… Continue Reading
China’s Amendment to the Criminal Law to Outlaw Bribery of Foreign Officials Becomes Effective
Posted in ChinaAn amendment of the PRC Criminal Law which criminalizes bribery of foreign government officials and “international public organizations” to secure illegitimate business benefits went into effect on May 1, 2011. The PRC did not have any law addressing cross-border bribery before and this law will be the first law to condemn bribery of foreign officials. This… Continue Reading
Anti-Corruption measures in Decree Initiative for Federal Law of Administrative Accountability of Public Officials
Posted in Corporate Finance/M&A, Foreign Corrupt Practices ActAs part of the strategy to put an end to corruption in Mexico, and within the scope of the 2007-2012 National Development Plan to strengthen security and the rule of law, President Felipe Calderon sent on March 2, 2011 the decree initiative amending and expanding various provisions of the Federal Law of Administrative Accountability of… Continue Reading
Mexican Senate Approves Anti-Corruption Law
Posted in MexicoLast Thursday, May 5, 2011, the Mexican Senate approved President Felipe Calderon’s Federal Anti-Corruption in Government Contracting initiative. Our colleagues at Sánchez DeVanny Eseverri, S.C. (“Sánchez DeVanny”), Mexico have analyzed the new legislation and provide its highlights below: It establishes the responsibility and sanctions applicable to individuals and legal entities, whether national or foreign, acting… Continue Reading
Former CCI Executive Settles with DOJ
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices ActFlavio Ricotti, a former executive with Control Components, Inc. (“CCI”), has reached a settlement with the DOJ over charges for conspiring to violate the FCPA and the Travel Act. Conduct In 2009, CCI, a California-based valve company, pled guilty to a three-count criminal information that charged two counts of violating the antibribery provisions of the FCPA… Continue Reading
Rockwell Settles With SEC Over Former Subsidiary’s Role In China Bribe Case
Posted in China enforcement actions, Foreign Corrupt Practices ActRockwell Automation, Inc. (“Rockwell”), an industrial automation products and services provider, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, resolved an enforcement action in which the SEC alleged it violated the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions through the actions of its former China based subsidiary, Rockwell Automation Power Systems (Shanghai) Ltd. (“RAPS-China”), which was divested by… Continue Reading
Panalpina Delivers Drafting Pointers
Posted in Corporate Finance/M&AThe DOJ‘s settlement with Panalpina and others has been well reported (for example, see our previous article). The size of the settlement clearly highlights the importance of anticorruption controls from a regulatory and compliance perspective. Panalpina’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement (PDF/2.08MB/77 pages) with the DOJ makes a good read. Among other things, the agreement provides that… Continue Reading