Heading For The Hammock

It’s the weekend again. Good thing. We need (and deserve) some rest. What serious mind, after all, wouldn’t be exhausted pondering how Tampa Bay can be one and a half games clear of the Red Sox? Strangely, our spouse seems to hold no opinion on the subject. So in our household the burden of the American League East falls entirely on our shoulders.

Still, we managed to cover some new ground this week. Iraq’s civil suit against those implicated in the oil-for-food scandal caught our eye. And we noted the appeal to the House of Lords by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office. We’re not sure if the bigger scandal there involves BAE and Prince Bandar or the SFO itself.

What else? Oh yes — we were wowed by the D&O Diary’s trend-spotting. Looks like FCPA-inspired civil litigation is the next big hazard in the lives of our already-pummeled corporate leaders.

Meanwhile, we’re waiting for the DOJ to deal with Panalpina. The global logistics firm may have stretched “facilitating payments” well beyond the current legal definition — and in the process caused compliance headaches for practically everyone in the oil-and-gas services sector.

Siemens’ hopes for a quick resolution in the U.S. of its massive corruption problems have now evaporated. Our first post about that company was back in September 2007, an eon ago in the life of a blog.

Speaking of eons . . .

Aon Corporation — the giant insurance broker — disclosed back in November 2007 an internal investigation into possible violations of the FCPA. When it self-reported to the DOJ it also agreed to toll the statute of limitations. So we guess no one’s in a big hurry to wrap up that one.

The orthopedic device makers are waiting to learn their fate with the FCPA. We first wrote about the investigation by the DOJ and SEC into the group’s overseas sales practices in October 2007. That post was also our first mention of John Ashcroft’s appointment as a compliance monitor in a domestic bribery case for Zimmer Holdings.

The revelation that Mr. Ashcroft might take home $52 million from the appointment prompted our favorite blog editor emeritus, Prof Peter Henning, to note in his ’07 Thanksgiving Day message: That’s not a bad payday, and Zimmer — like every other company that enters into a deferred or non-prosecution agreement — can hardly object to the fees lest it look uncooperative and bring down the wrath of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. So much to give thanks for this Thanksgiving.

Well, with the FCPA backlog still growing, we could keep at this for a long time. But our thoughts must now return to more weighty matters. That’s right — the mystery of the American League East.

Enjoy the weekend.

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