In yet another record-setting settlement in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act area, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice announced on April 26 that Baker Hughes Inc. and Baker Hughes Services International Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BHI, have together agreed to pay $11 million in criminal penalties, $23 million in civil disgorgment and prejudgment interest, and $10 million for violating a 2001 commission cease-and-desist order prohibiting BHI from future violations of the books and records and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. In the Matter of Baker Hughes Inc., Exchange Act Release No. 44784 (Sept. 12, 2001).
The total payment of $44 million by Baker Hughes represents the largest combined penalty ever imposed in the FCPA area. The Baker Hughes settlement comes fast on the heels of the Feb. 6 settlement in which three Vetco Gray International Ltd. subsidiaries, Vetco Gray Controls Inc., Vetco Gray Controls Ltd., and Vetco Gray UK Ltd., agreed to pay a combined $26 million to settle charges that they violated the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Justice Department Release No. 07-075 (Feb. 6, 2007).
