Avon’s $135 million settlement with the DOJ and SEC earlier this month included a disgorgement to the SEC with interest that ranks 8th on our list of the biggest FCPA disgorgements.
Avon agreed to disgorge $52.85 million to the SEC, plus prejudgment interest of $14.5 million.
Disgorgement, according to contributing editor Marc Alain Bohn, is a remedy authorized by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that’s “used to deprive wrong-doers of their ill-gotten gains and deter violations of federal securities law.”
Disgorgement first appeared in an FCPA enforcement action in 2004 when ABB Ltd disgorged $5.9 million to resolve books and records and internal controls offenses.
Since then the SEC has used disgorgement in more than three-quarters of its FCPA-related enforcement actions.
Here are the current top ten FCPA-related corporate disgorgements. All amounts also include pre-judgment interest:
1. Siemens $350 million in 2008
2. KBR $177 million in 2009
3. Alcoa $161 million in 2014
4. Total S.A. $153 million in 2013
5. Snamprogetti $125 million in 2010
6. Technip $98 million in 2010
7. Daimler $91.4 million in 2010
8. Avon $67.35 million in 2014
9. Pfizer $45.2 million in 2012
10. Alcatel-Lucent $45 million in 2010
The Avon disgorgement moved Bio-Rad Laboratories’ $40.7 million payment in 2014 off the list.
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For comparison, here’s our current list of the top ten FCPA enforcement actions.
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Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
1 Comment
When a company gets hit with big fines or with disgorgement, what happens to the money? Does any of it go to compensate individuals or businesses that were hurt by the company's illegal activity?
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