Speaking to an audience in Washington, D.C., in November 2015, outgoing SEC Division of Enforcement director Andrew Ceresney described the benefits of cooperation during an SEC investigation as “significant” and “tangible.” Ceresney highlighted several Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations over the prior 12 months in which the SEC’s settlement with the company included reduced penalties on the ground of cooperation credit. In addition to reduced charges, settled orders entered by the commission in FCPA cases routinely include reference to specific steps taken by companies to assist the Division of Enforcement in its investigation.

For example, within recent years, the SEC has commended companies for initiating internal investigations and providing the SEC with “real-time” updates of its preliminary findings; terminating or cutting the pay of culpable employees; voluntarily producing documents to the SEC and making witnesses available; reviewing and revising its compliance programs; and voluntarily ceasing and self-reporting unlawful behavior. Such cooperation is often critical to the success of an FCPA investigation by the division because FCPA cases often involve the production of relevant documents and witnesses located outside of the United States, which can be difficult for the division to obtain without the company’s assistance. The resulting inclusion of text describing a company’s cooperative efforts in settlement documents acknowledges the programmatic importance of this cooperation to the SEC.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]