When Australian mining company BHP Billiton signed up as a sponsor of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, it sounded like a great opportunity for brand and business. As part of the deal the company got to provide the raw materials used to make medals for the winners at the games, but what BHP didn’t foresee is that their involvement would get them stuck in an Olympic-sized Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation.
That probe, which has been ongoing since 2009, finally concluded this month with a settlement in which BHP will pay $25 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to end the ordeal. The case illustrates the many difficulties of running a hospitality program for clients and partners, especially when the U.S. government seems eager to root out any potential FCPA violations.
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