Take a bow lawyers from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Latham & Watkins, who negotiated a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and the Japanese automaker.

The SEC on Monday announced that Nissan will pay a $15 million civil penalty and Ghosn will pay $1 million and be subject to a 10-year officer and director bar. Former Nissan director Greg Kelly, who was represented by Neal & Harwell, will pay a $100,000 penalty, face a five-year officer and director bar and a five-year suspension from practicing or appearing before the SEC as an attorney. 

The SEC alleged that from 2009 until his arrest in Tokyo in November 2018, Ghosn, "with substantial assistance from Kelly and subordinates at Nissan, engaged in a scheme to conceal more than $90 million of compensation from public disclosure, while also taking steps to increase Ghosn's retirement allowance by more than $50 million."

What's key about the settlement is that Ghosn, who faces ongoing criminal proceedings in Japan, was not required to admit or deny wrongdoing.

"The SEC settlement expressly permits Mr. Ghosn to continue to contest and deny the factual and legal allegations against him in the criminal proceedings in Japan, and Mr. Ghosn fully intends to do so," Ghosn's defense counsel said in a statement.

His team includes Brad Karp, Michael Gertzman, Kaye Yoshino and Christopher Frey of Paul Weiss, as well as counsel in Japan and elsewhere.

"Mr. Ghosn and his defense team are now able to focus their efforts on continuing to vigorously fight the criminal case in Japan and pursue his claims against Nissan around the world," his lawyers continued. "They remain confident that, if given a fair trial, he will be acquitted of all charges and fully vindicated."

Cleary partners Victor Hou, Joon Kim and  Matthew Solomon represent Nissan along with Latham's William Baker and Ben Naftalis.