Byzantium and the Alstom FCPA Settlement – Part III

Porphyry is a type of stone that was much favored in the Roman world. In a review of several books in the New York Review of Books, entitled “The Purple Stone of Emperors”, Peter Brown looked into the history of the lithic in the context of Byzantium as the true heir of the Roman Empire. He theorized that if “porphyry was the blood of ancient empire, then it must be to Constantinople that we should look (and not to Western Europe) if we wish to understand the heritage of Rome in the Middle Ages.” I found that an appropriate way to think about an apparent anomaly in the recent Alstom Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action. In Part III of my series on the Alstom natter I consider the accounting records violations that the French parent, Alstom SA, agreed to in this enforcement action.

The FCPA Professor noted in his second blog post on this matter, entitled “Issues to Consider from the Alstom Action”, “The charges against Alstom S.A. are a real head-scratcher. The conventional wisdom for why the Alstom action involved only a DOJ (and not SEC) component is that Alstom ceased being an issuer in 2004 (in other words 10 years prior to the enforcement action). Yet, the actual criminal charges Alstom pleaded guilty to – violations of the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions – were based on Alstom’s status as an issuer (as only issuers are subject to these substantive provisions). In other words, Alstom pleaded guilty to substantive legal provisions in 2014 that last applied to the company in 2004.”

The Professor had also raised this issue in his first blog post on the resolution, entitled “All About the Alstom Enforcement Action”. After considering his thoughts on this issue, I decided to look into it a bit more deeply. Alstom SA was charged with several different FCPA violations including the following, 15 U.S.C. 78m(b)(2)(A), 15 USC §78m(b)(2)(B) and 78m(b)(5) which read in whole,

15 U.S.C. § 78m [Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934] 

(b) Form of report; books, records, and internal accounting; directives…

(2) Every issuer which has a class of securities registered pursuant to section 78l of this title and every issuer which is required to file reports pursuant to section 78o(d) of this title shall—

(A) make and keep books, records, and accounts, which, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the issuer;

(B) devise and maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient

to provide reasonable assurances that—…

(5) No person shall knowingly circumvent or knowingly fail to imple­ment a system of internal accounting controls or knowingly falsify any book, record, or account described in paragraph (2).

These provisions are generally referred to as the ‘accounting provisions’ of the FCPA. As stated in the FCPA Guidance, “In addition to the anti-bribery provisions, the FCPA contains accounting provisions applicable to public companies. The FCPA’s accounting provisions operate in tandem with the anti-bribery provisions and prohibit off-the-books accounting. Company management and investors rely on a company’s financial statements and internal accounting controls to ensure transparency in the financial health of the business, the risks undertaken, and the transactions between the company and its customers and business partners. The accounting provisions are designed to “strengthen the accuracy of the corporate books and records and the reliability of the audit process which constitute the foundations of our system of corporate disclosure.””

Moreover, these accounting provisions, including both the books and records and internal control provisions, are defined to apply to “issuers”. As set out in the FCPA Guidance, “The FCPA’s accounting provisions apply to every issuer that has a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act or that is required to file annual or other periodic reports pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.244 These provisions apply to any issuer whose securities trade on a national securities exchange in the United States, including foreign issuers with exchange traded American Depository Receipts. They also apply to companies whose stock trades in the over-the-counter market in the United States and which file periodic reports with the Commission, such as annual and quarterly reports. Unlike the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions, the accounting provisions do not apply to private companies.”

Charging Box Score

Alstom Entity	Charges	Time of Criminal Conduct	Issuer Status
Alstom SA	15 USC §78m(b)(2)(A)15 USC §78m(b)(2)(B)15 USC §78m(b)(5) 15 USC §78ff(a) 18 USC §2	1998-2004	Issuer until 2004
Alstom Power Inc.	18 USC §371-conspiracy to violate the FCPA	2002-2009	Subsidiary of Issuer until 2004
Alstom Grid Inc.	18 USC §371-conspiracy to violate the FCPA	2000-2010	Subsidiary of Issuer until 2004
Alstom Network Schweiz AG	18 USC §371-conspiracy to violate the FCPA	2000-2011	Subsidiary of Issuer until 2004

While I agree with the above, I do disagree with the Professor’s final statement that “This free-for-all, anything goes, as long as the enforcement agencies collect the money nature of FCPA enforcement undermines the legitimacy and credibility of FCPA enforcement.” The reason I disagree is that this was a negotiated settlement, not a dictat or court proceeding. With no doubt excellent FCPA defense counsel involved, Alstom must have had its own reasons for agreeing to such a settlement. Without any further comment by the company, we will have to speculate as to some of the reasons for this component of the resolution.

First and foremost is that clearly Alstom did engage in conduct which substantially violated the FCPA. It would further appear that the conduct reached right up into the corporate home offices in France. By agreeing to the books and records and internal control violations, Alstom may have avoided any direct admission of guilt under French law, which we now know from the Total FCPA enforcement action is significant for a French company, because what is illegal bribery and corruption under US law is not necessarily illegal under French law.

Other than the anomalous French law issue, there may be another important consideration going on here. Alstom is under acquisition by General Electric (GE). Not only does GE pride itself and very publicly inform about its anti-corruption compliance program, GE has a large number of contracts with the US and other governments which might looks askance at doing business with a business unit that admitted to substantive FCPA violations of bribery and corruption. While I do not think that GE would be in danger of being debarred, it might well be that certain governments might not want to do business with a new subsidiary which made such a court admission. I find this to be more than simply a distinction without a difference. Consider the trouble that Hewlett-Packard (HP) is in north of the border in Canada regarding potential debarment by the Canadian government for its FCPA violations as set forth in its FCPA resolution of last April. So perhaps from Alstom’s perspective, the company believed it received benefits from settling based upon accounting violations.

But whatever the reason, it is clear that Alstom did engage in substantive FCPA violations. It’s settlement is that, a settlement of outstanding issues, which the company was a willing participant. It may not have been what the company wanted but I do not find that by charging Alstom for books and records and internal controls violations for the time frame it was clearly liable in any way demeans, degrades or lessens FCPA enforcement going forward. But just as we need to look to Byzantium to determine the heritage of Rome through the Middle Ages, by looking at the facts and circumstances around Alstom’s FCPA from the Alstom perspective and what it hoped to obtain in the settlement, we might be able to glean some insights.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2015

The Alstom FCPA Enforcement Action – Part I

As the first blog post of 2015, I thought it appropriate to highlight two outstanding confluences. The first is that this year is the centenary of the birth of Orson Welles. While not occurring in 2015, near the end of 2014 we had the settlement of the long-standing Alstom Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action announced. Both are worthy on note this second day of our mid-decade mark. First Welles. Many consider him one of the most talented directors ever to come through the American film industry. Almost any cinema-goer will recognize the names of Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons as two of greatest films of all-time. But I found The Lady from Shanghai, Macbeth and most particularly Touch of Evil all to be excellent films for their respective genres. And do not forget his acting; not only in the aforementioned Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil but also as Harry Lime in The Third Man. Welles could also be a philosopher. Kristin M. Jones, writing in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), in an article entitled “Welles at 100”, quoted him for the following, “Art is the lie that makes us realize the truth.” She ended her piece with the observations that “Searching for the truth beyond Welles’s beautiful lies is still a journey worth taking.”

All of which brings us to Alstom and the resolution of its FCPA enforcement action. Over the next couple of posts, I will be looking the enforcement action for it is certainly ‘a journey worth taking’ to try and glean nuggets for the compliance practitioner. Today I will review the amounts of money involved and some of the larger concepts that I see at play in this matter. Next I will review the specifics of the Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) and see what lessons we may draw from them. Beyond that, we will have to see where the journey takes us.

First, and foremost, is how did Alstom find itself in the position that it now occupies as Number 2 on the all-time hit parade of FCPA enforcement actions? Particularly, as noted by the FCPA Professor in his post, entitled “All About the Alstom Enforcement Action”, that “Alstom employed approximately 110,000 employees in over 70 countries. The information contains specific allegations as to 9 individuals associated with Alstom and 9 consultants associated with Alstom.”

Usually when someone comes in at Number 2, the ranking comes with some ignominy. Though for Alstom it is not because they did not win but because they now have the second highest total FCPA monetary fine in the history of the world at a stunning $772,290,000. I say total because the current Number 1, Siemens, is at $800MM and included both a Department of Justice (DOJ) component of $450MM and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) component of $350MM. However with the Alstom fine, the entire amount was paid to DOJ as a fine and no monies were paid to the SEC because at the time of the resolution, Alstom was not an ‘issuer’ under the FCPA and the SEC had no jurisdiction. This makes Alstom the largest criminal FCPA fine of all-time. One interesting note is that two other French companies, Total SA and Technip SA, join Alstom on the all-time Top 10 list. Somewhere I am sure Mr. French is shaking his very well coiffured head in shame in the great TV Land in the sky.

I would say the amounts paid out and benefits received by Alstom were stunning but it might do a disservice to the word stunning. So below I have laid out information below.

Alstom Bribery Box Score

Country	Bribe Amount Paid	Benefit Received
Indonesia	(not listed)	$378MM
Saudi Arabia	$51.2MM	$3bn
Egypt	‘Millions and millions’	$175MM
Bahamas	$1MM	(not listed)
Taiwan	(not listed)	$15MM
Total	$75MM	$4bn in contracts with $296MM in profits

The FCPA Professor also noted, “at its core, the Alstom enforcement action involved inadequate controls concerning the engagement, monitoring and supervision of the consultants.” However it is most difficult to believe that Alstom suffered from a corporate culture which was at best make your numbers or at worst something much more nefarious. The amounts paid were simply so large and the bribery schemes so pervasive that there had to be much more than simply 9 persons lying, cheating and stealing all while merrily skipping home to Grandmother’s house in the woods. Indeed, as noted by WSJ reporters Joel Schechtman and Brent Kendall, in their article entitled “Alstom to Pay $772 Million to Settle Bribery Charges”, “The record criminal bribery penalty comes after more than six years of investigations into Alstom from law enforcement in 10 countries. The company and its subsidiaries’ schemes lasted for more than a decade, into at least 2011”.

Also of note is that the Alstom enforcement action was the first in 2014 where the fine was not at either the low range or even lower than calculations the Sentencing Guidelines would have suggested. The range for the fine was calculated to be between $592MM and $1.184bn. This range was a direct result of the failure of Alstom to take the investigation seriously, to cooperate with the DOJ or to even put anything like a positive step forward in the way of remedial actions during a large part of the investigative process. The DOJ Press Release quoted Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell that “This case is emblematic of how the Department of Justice will investigate and prosecute FCPA cases – and other corporate crimes. We encourage companies to maintain robust compliance programs, to voluntarily disclose and eradicate misconduct when it is detected, and to cooperate in the government’s investigation. But we will not wait for companies to act responsibly. With cooperation or without it, the department will identify criminal activity at corporations and investigate the conduct ourselves, using all of our resources, employing every law enforcement tool, and considering all possible actions, including charges against both corporations and individuals.”

Finally, from a big picture perspective was the international scope of the investigation. In the DOJ Press Release, FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Anderson Jr. said that “This investigation spanned years and crossed continents, as agents from the FBI Washington and New Haven field offices conducted interviews and collected evidence in every corner of the globe.” Further, the DOJ acknowledged significant cooperation from “the law enforcement colleagues in Indonesia at the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commission), the Office of the Attorney General in Switzerland, the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom, as well as authorities in Germany, Italy, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Taiwan.” Truly worldwide in scope.

Next, I will look at some of the specifics in the various Alstom DPAs to determine where best practices compliance program may be headed.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2015

 

 

Alstom Joins Santa’s Naughty List – In a Very Big Way

The North Pole for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action announcements seems to have temporarily moved south for the month of December. Last week there was the final announcement of the long-standing Avon FCPA enforcement action. On December 22, 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced settlement of the Alstom enforcement action. Certainly the DOJ is giving out presents to companies that have been very, very naughty. I am currently exploring the Avon enforcement action over several days of blog posts but I had to interrupt those posts to write something about the Alstom resolution for it was extremely significant gift for the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), compliance practitioner and companies going forward.

The Fine

First and foremost was the fine amount. At $772MM it is the highest criminal fine for FCPA violations in the history of the world. Siemens’ prior of a reported $800MM was a combination of DOJ and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fines and penalties. Alstom was not subject to the jurisdiction of the SEC so there was no component of this amount for either civil books and records or internal controls violations. But for those few remaining dunderheads out there who think their private company status insulates them from FCPA liability; wake up and smell the mistletoe, as the DOJ will be looking for you to smack a big one on. The fine brings the 2014 fine totals up to around $1.5bn, which comes a close second to the record-setting year of 2010, where the total amount of fines was $1.8bn.

Disclosure, Cooperation and Conduct

While I am in the middle of lambasting Avon for its conduct that led to its FCPA violations, one really has to step aside and give some credit to Alstom for some of the worst actions a company can engage in when dealing with bribery and corruption. If there was anyone on the naughty list, it certainly was Alstom. First is the company’s failure to self-disclose its obvious criminal conduct. The second was the clear foot-dragging in dealing the DOJ, during the pendency of the investigation. Finally, to complete this triumvirate of idiocy was the company’s refusal to timely engage in remediation. Dick Cassin, writing in the FCPA Blog, pointed out that Alstom’s conduct included the following:

• Alstom’s refusal to fully cooperate with the department’s investigation for several years
• The breadth of the companies’ misconduct, which spanned many years, occurred in countries around the globe and in several business lines, and involved sophisticated schemes to bribe high-level government officials
• Alstom’s lack of an effective compliance and ethics program at the time of the conduct, and
• Alstom’s prior criminal misconduct, including conduct that led to resolutions with various other governments and the World Bank.

Individual Prosecutions

Alstom’s conduct was so bad during the investigation that the DOJ obtained indictments against four company executives during the pendency of the investigation. Three of these executives have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Cassin wrote, “Alstom began cooperating only after the DOJ publicly charged several Alstom executives, the government said.” The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has also brought charges against individuals.

Post Acquisition FCPA Liability

I promised a Christmas present for companies out there and neither Santa nor I want to disappoint those not on the naughty list, for the Alstom enforcement action makes clear that the company which is acquiring them, GE, is not responsible for the fine going forward. This enforcement action reinforces the message the DOJ presented in Opinion Release 14-02; that a company which engages in pre-acquisition due diligence, discloses and then remediates the issues after they acquire the entity, can rest easier about purchasing a FCPA violation. For if GE can purchase a company with the clear attitude about doing business in compliance with anti-corruption laws, such as Alstom, with confidence that it will not be subject to a FCPA enforcement action, it means that any other company can do so as well.

Cassin reported, “Alstom SA pleaded guilty to a two-count criminal information in federal court in Connecticut. The DOJ charged the company with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by falsifying its books and records and failing to implement adequate internal controls. Alstom admitted its criminal conduct…In addition, Alstom Network Schweiz AG, a Swiss subsidiary, pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging it with conspiracy to violate the antibribery provisions of the FCPA.” Finally, “Two U.S. subsidiaries — Alstom Power Inc. and Alstom Grid Inc. — both entered into deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ. They admitted that they conspired to violate the antibribery provisions of the FCPA.” The settlement documents have not been released as yet but hopefully they will be by the time of the final sentencing hearing before US District Judge Janet B. Arterton in June 2015.

The significance of this enforcement action will reverberate for a long time to come.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2014