When the Securities and Exchange Commission approached Key Energy Services Inc. about bribery allegations in Mexico, the company went into high gear. It launched a major internal investigation and reformed its compliance efforts, including shaking up its legal department.
The SEC inquiry started in January 2014. As part of the corporate reorganization, general counsel Kimberly Frye left last October after 13 years on the job. Garrett Cornelison, the new compliance officer hired in late 2014 to clean up the problems, left this past June. Cornelison is now chief compliance officer at Quanta Services Inc. Frye and Cornelison have been replaced at Key Energy by Katherine Hargis, a former associate general counsel, who was promoted to chief legal officer and chief compliance officer.
The changes and hard work paid off. Last week the SEC made the Houston-based company disgorge $5 million in profits, but the company escaped any other fines or penalties. The Department of Justice already had declined to criminally prosecute the company in April.
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