Russian telecom MTS joined our Top Ten list last week at number three. It knocked Och-Ziff off the list, and that means nine of the ten biggest FCPA cases of all time now involve non-U.S. companies.
The only U.S. company still among the top ten is KBR / Halliburton with its $579 million resolution in 2009.
MTS settled FCPA violations in Uzbekistan by agreeing to pay the DOJ and SEC a total of $850 million in penalties. Unlike most of the mega-resolutions since 2016 — including Petrobras, Telia, VimpelCom, SocGen, and Keppel Offshore — none of MTS’ penalties are payable to non-U.S. enforcement agencies.
MTS — formally known as Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company — will pay the SEC a penalty of $100 million for civil violations of the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the FCPA.
On the criminal side with the DOJ, MTS will pay a fine and forfeiture totaling $850 million. To avoid piling on, the DOJ said it will give MTS full credit for the $100 million SEC penalty, so MTS’ full liability for the FCPA resolution is $850 million.
MTS is the first Russian company to appear on the FCPA Blog Top Ten list.
This is the third time the Top Ten list involves nine non-U.S. companies. The first time was in late 2011 and it happened again in late 2013.
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Here are the current top ten FCPA enforcement actions of all time based on penalties and disgorgement assessed in the U.S. enforcement documents.*
1. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (Brazil): $1.78 billion in 2018.
2. Telia Company AB (Sweden): $965 million in 2017.
3. MTS (Russia): $850 million in 2019.
4. Siemens (Germany): $800 million in 2008.
5. VimpelCom (Holland): $795 million in 2016.
6. Alstom (France): $772 million in 2014.
7. Société Générale S.A. (France): $585 million in 2018.
8. KBR / Halliburton (United States): $579 million in 2009.
9. Teva Pharmaceutical (Israel): $519 million in 2016.
10. Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd.(Singapore): $422 million in 2017.
Falling off the Top Ten list is Och-Ziff (United States) with its $412 million resolution in 2016.
* Odebrecht / Braskem appeared on the Top Ten list in late 2016 but were removed in April 2017 after the DOJ reduced their overall penalties based on “ability to pay.”
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