Episode 200 -- The Foster Wheeler FCPA Enforcement Action

The Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission are back in business.  The first corporate FCPA enforcement action in 2021 came after a six-month hiatus in 2021.

The first case against a corporate entity in 2021 is an interesting one because it reflects a coordinated settlement not only between DOJ and the SEC but the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office and Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal (MPF), the Controladoría-Geral da União (CGU) and the Advogado-Geral da União (AGU) in Brazil.

Amec Foster Wheeler Energy, a subsidiary of the U.K. global engineering company, Wood Group, agreed to pay the United States $18.375 million to resolve criminal charges for bribery payments made in Brazil to win a $190 million contract to design a gas-to-chemicals facility.  Amec Foster entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in exchange for its payment of $18.375 million.

In related settlements, Amec Foster agreed to pay the SEC approximately $22.7 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest to the SEC to resolve FCPA charges.  The SEC agreed to offset up to $9.1 million paid to Brazil and $3.5 million to the SFO in the United Kingdom, leaving a minimum payment of approximately $10 million to the SEC.

In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the Foster Wheeler FCPA enforcement action.