In a powerful affirmation of the rule of law, two justices of the U.K.’s High Court of Justice ruled in an April 10, 2008 opinion (here) that the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) must reconsider its decision to discontinue its bribery investigation into the award of a weapons contract between Saudi Arabia and
In prior posts (most recently here), I have commented on the growing threat of follow-on shareholder litigation ensuing in the wake of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions. A lawsuit recently filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania represents an entirely different kind of threat arising from
In prior posts (most recently here), I have discussed the growing threat that Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement may present for companies doing business overseas. This trend became even more pronounced in 2007, and at least one legal commentator has suggested (here) that the increasing FCPA enforcement trends raise the possibility
In prior posts (most recently here), I have noted the threat of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations as a growing area of corporate risk. Several recent reports substantiate this concern and help explain why this area of risk continues to grow, and also highlight some of the barriers to antibribery enforcement.
A June
With its announcement (here) that it is the target of a Department of Justice antibribery investigation, BAE Systems added its name to the growing list of foreign-domiciled companies targeted by U.S. officials for alleged violations of U.S. anticorruption laws. The recent high-profile investigation of Siemens (about which refer here), as well as
Add Bed Bath & Beyond to the growing list of companies whose options backdating related shareholders’ derivative lawsuits have been dismissed because of the plaintiffs’ failure to adequately plead demand futility. According to a May 22, 2007 article in the New York Law Journal (here), a New York Supreme Court Justice dismissed the
In prior posts (most recently here), I have written about how the increased level of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement activity (about which refer here) can lead to heightened D & O risk. The risks arise not so much from the enforcement activity itself, but from the threat of follow-on civil actions.
As I have previously noted (most recently here), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations and enforcement actions represent an increasing corporate threat, and, in the form of follow-on civil actions, an area of growing D & O risk. Two recent developments underscore the growing magnitude of these concerns.
The first of these two developments
The D & O Diary has long contended (most recently here) that civil claims following on enforcement actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) represent a growing area of D & O claim risk. The entry last week (refer here) of a $26 million criminal fine – the largest criminal penalty ever
The growing bribery scandal at Siemens has made the front pages of the world’s financial papers in recent days. For example, on January 31, 2007, the Wall Street Journal (here, subscription required) ran an article entitled "At Siemens, Witnesses Cite Pattern of Bribery." In its February 1, 2007 SEC filing on Form 6-K