Of Top 10 FCPA Settlements, 8 Involve Foreign Companies
November 5, 2010, 10:49 AM ET
By Joe Palazzolo
The FCPA Blog, a resource for anyone with an interest U.S. anti-corruption efforts, keeps a current list of the top 10 settlements (by dollar amount) under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Thursdays announcement that Swiss freight forwarder Panalpina World Transport Ltd. and six of its customers reached settlements in a three-year-old foreign bribery investigation wreaked havoc on the list. (Click here for a list of the companies, settlement amounts, etc.)
When the dust settled, three U.S. companies Willbros Group Inc., Chevron Corp. and Baker Hughes Inc. were squeezed out of the top 10 by Panalpina (Switzerland, No. 7), Pride International Inc. (U.S., No. 9) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (Netherlands, No. 10).
The shuffling means that eight of the top 10 FCPA settlements involved foreign companies. (Siemens AG, which in 2008 agreed to pay $800 million in civil and criminal penalties, tops the list.) Other than demonstrating the statutes reach, the list is a nice promotional tool for the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For years, U.S. companies complained with good reason that the FCPA put them at a competitive disadvantage with their foreign counterparts. Level the playing field, they said.
If the list is of no comfort in this regard, then consider this: The U.K. Bribery Act, which goes into effect in April next year, creates liability for companies with business in the U.K., even if the company is foreign and the misconduct occurred wholly outside the U.K.
The Serious Fraud Offices chief, Richard Alderman, has said repeatedly that his agency pushed for broad jurisdiction to eliminate inequity. Well have to wait for the SFOs top 10 list to see if it works.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
