Corruption Is A Marathon Not A Sprint

What happens when a company, that is known internationally, is bribing officials in different countries to obtain contracts? You end up having a situation like Paris based company Alstom. Alstom is being charged with bribery and corruption charges that span over a 10-year period, affecting countries within Europe, Asia, and North America. Being recorded as the largest penalty in FCPA history, Alstom is required to pay a fine of $772 million dollars to cover its criminal charges of bribery. In an article written by Richard L. Cassin “Alstom pays $772 million for FCPA settlement, SFO brings new charges” he mentions how the subsidiaries of Alstom, Alstom Power Inc. and Alstom Grind Inc., also were liable for paying several fines in order to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations. In total, the subsidiaries have paid a total of $75 million, which was paid quickly as they are expected to proceed with projects worth over $4 billion and make over $300 million in profit.

These penalties come at a time that Alstom energy assets are acquired by GE for a reported $15.6 billion. GE, having the acquisition go through in in June, is not expected to pay for any of the charges and have Alstom assume full responsibility of the penalties prior to the deal.

“Monday's FCPA settlement removes an obstacle for GE's acquisition of Alstom’s energy assets for €12.4 billion ($15.6 billion). The companies agreed to the deal in June. On Friday, Alstom's CEO Patrick Kron said the DOJ would require Alstom to pay the criminal penalty and not GE. Alstom’s corruption scheme was sustained over more than a decade and across several continents, U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole said. It was astounding in its breadth, it’s brazenness and its worldwide consequences.”

With the close of 2014, it is clear to see that the increase of corruption and bribery cases, over a period of time is beginning to reveal itself. Further investigations of companies doing business internationally are going to give way to further insight on what exactly is going on within and what kind of actions are taking place when conducting business overseas. The need for solidifying an anti-corruption policy program is becoming more evident now that the SEC and DOJ are targeting companies with multiple business partners in different areas of the world. Source Intelligence, with its robust anti-corruption platform, offers companies and its 3^rd party business partners ways to create, implement, and combat such problems that arise in regard to corruption and bribery. For a complimentary benchmark analysis of your existing policy and records program and to receive a live demo, click here.