Juniper Networks lands DOJ declination

Juniper Networks, Inc. said an SEC filing Friday that the DOJ has closed its FCPA investigation of the company and won’t bring an enforcement action.

The SEC’s investigation is still pending, Juniper said.

The company first disclosed the FCPA investigation in August 2013. It said,

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice are conducting investigations into possible violations by the Company of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Company is cooperating with these agencies regarding these matters. The Company is unable to predict the duration, scope or outcome of these investigations.

Juniper never publicly disclosed where the possible FCPA violations might have happened or who was involved.

Friday’s filing said “the DOJ acknowledged the Company’s cooperation in the investigation.”

California-based Juniper makes networking equipment.

It typically generates most of its revenues from sales outside the U.S.

Juniper’s biggest foreign customer when the FCPA investigation started was China Mobile Ltd.

China Mobile’s former vice chairman, Zhang Chunjiang, received a suspended death sentence in 2011 for taking more than $1.2 million in bribes.

Juniper wasn’t named in the Zhang case.

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Here’s the full FCPA disclosure from Juniper Networks, Inc.’s February 9, 2018 Form 8-K:

The Company also announced that it received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) notifying the Company that the DOJ has closed the Company’s previously disclosed investigation into possible violations by the Company of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) without taking any action against the Company. In its letter, the DOJ acknowledged the Company’s cooperation in the investigation. As previously disclosed, the Securities and Exchange Commission is also conducting an FCPA investigation, and that matter has not yet been resolved.

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Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.