Oil services firm Nabors Industries Ltd. was a customer of Panalpina but not among the six that settled FCPA cases on the same historic day in November 2010.
Panalpina, a Swiss-based logistics firm, admitted paying bribes to help customers move their drill rigs and other equipment in and out of Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Nigeria, among others.
Nabors had launched a Panalpina-related investigation in 2007 and shared the results with the feds.
Nabors said in its latest SEC filing that the SEC won’t bring an enforcement action.
The company hasn’t heard from the DOJ.
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Here’s the full FCPA disclosure from Nabor’s Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 2:
On July 5, 2007, we received an inquiry from the U.S. Department of Justice relating to its investigation of one of our vendors and compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The inquiry relates to transactions with and involving Panalpina, which provided freight forwarding and customs clearance services to some of our affiliates. The inquiry focused on transactions in Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Nigeria. The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors engaged outside counsel to review some of our transactions with this vendor, received periodic updates at its regularly scheduled meetings, and the Chairman of the Audit Committee received updates between meetings as circumstances warranted. The investigation included a review of certain amounts paid to and by Panalpina in connection with obtaining permits for the temporary importation of equipment and clearance of goods and materials through customs. Both the SEC and the Department of Justice have been advised of the results of our investigation. The SEC has advised us in April 2012 that it concluded its review of this matter and does not intend to recommend any enforcement action against us. Although the Department of Justice has not concluded its inquiry, we do not anticipate that its final determination will have an adverse effect on the Company.
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