SEC Imposes $25 Million Penalty for FCPA Violations at 2008 Summer Olympics

FCPA SEC

On May 20, the SEC announced that it had instituted and settled administrative proceedings against a global resources company to resolve alleged FCPA violations during the 2008 Summer Olympics. According to the SEC’s administrative order, the company invited over 175 government officials and employees of state-owned enterprises, many from countries in Africa and Asia with a “well-known history of corruption,” to attend the Games at its expense. Those who accepted were provided with “hospitality packages” that included event tickets, luxury hotel accommodations, meals and, in many cases, business class airfare. Even though the company was aware that providing high-end hospitality packages to government officials created a heightened risk of violating anti-corruption laws, its internal controls were “insufficient” because there was no independent legal or compliance review of the invited guests or enhanced training of employees regarding the corruption risks. As a result, the company invited “government officials who were directly involved in, or in a position to influence, pending contract negotiations, efforts to obtain access rights, regulatory actions, or business dealings affecting [the company] in multiple countries.” Additionally, the company violated the books and records provisions of the FCPA because its records relating to the hospitality packages “did not, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect pending negotiations or business dealings between [the company] and government officials invited to the Olympics.” However, the SEC credited the company for retaining outside counsel to conduct an “extensive” internal investigation and for instituting “significant remedial actions” relating to its anti-corruption compliance program. While neither admitting nor denying the SEC’s allegations, the company agreed to pay a $25 million civil money penalty and to provide reports to the SEC for one year regarding its compliance program.