Tony West, Uber senior vice president and chief legal officer, delivers a keynote address at Bloomberg Law's In-House Forum West/photo by Jason Doiy / The Recorder

Uber Technologies Inc. and its general counsel celebrated a double portion of good news Monday, starting with federal prosecutors dropping their investigation into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The announcement was included in the ride-hailing platform's 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing, signed by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, also announced the other good news: that Uber has completed its $3.1 billion acquisition of Careem, a similar ride-hailing company in the Middle East. In a statement, Khosrowshahi said, "Working in parallel, our two platforms will be able to build upon the unique strengths of each, to the benefit of drivers, riders, and the cities we serve across the greater Middle East."

Neither Uber nor general counsel Tony West immediately returned messages seeking comment on the dropped investigation. The company's stock edged upward on the news.

Uber's filing said simply, "The Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division recently informed the company that the Fraud Section has closed its inquiry and will not be pursuing enforcement action against the company in relation to … possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act."

The act prohibits companies from bribing foreign officials to obtain business. Uber identified the countries involved in the investigation as Indonesia, Malaysia, China and India.

The Justice Department did not issue its own press release, nor did it post a declination letter on its website.

Uber had previously disclosed the investigation, including in its stock prospectus filed May 9, 2019.

"We received requests from the DOJ in May 2017 and August 2017 with respect to an investigation into allegations of small payments to police in Indonesia and other potential improper payments in other countries in which we operate or have operated, including Malaysia, China, and India," the prospectus said. It added that the company was cooperating with the investigation.

Such cooperation was expected from West, who served as the U.S. associate attorney general, the third-ranking official in the Justice Department, during the Obama administration. He also served as executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel for PepsiCo before joining Uber in 2017.

Covington & Burling's Steve Fagell, Mythili Raman and Jason Criss serve as national coordinating counsel in Uber's pending DOJ and SEC investigations, including this FCPA matter. O'Melveny & Myers was co-counsel on this specific investigation, led by Greta Lichtenbaum.