Category: Law

No criminal charges, but strict liability, big fines, and liability for bribes of private companies as well as public officials. — Under the new rule, there are administrative and judicial sanctions. Fines are between 0.1 percent and 20 percent of a company’s gross revenue from the prior year. If gross revenue is not known, fines are between $3,000 and $30 million. The payment does not exempt a company from paying losses generated to the government as a consequence of its wrongdoings.

Acquisitions of minority equity stakes in Japanese publiclytraded companies are attracting greater interest from investors,whether as passive investments, strategic acquisitions, or asfirst-step purchases towards a future business combination….

A former Bridgestone executive agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices for auto parts, a day after a grand jury indicted another executive and two former workers.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-16/bridgestone-executive-to-plead-guilty-in-price-fixing-case-1-.html

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) – ”Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline – hit by bribery claims in five countries – is to employ hundreds more doctors as members of staff as it seeks to build a new sales model designed to eliminate sharp marketing practices.

Following a decision to cut commercial ties with outside doctors, GSK expects to increase its in-house team of physicians by 10-20 percent over the next year or so from around 1,500 at present, Chief Medical Officer James Shannon told Reuters.

The authors state that the purpose of the publication is to “illustrate how bribes are paid in practice, based on legal cases and realistic experiences.” They go on to describe why they took the time and effort to compile 46 pages of bribery scenarios: “to help individuals and companies anticipate, recognize, avoid and resist bribery.” The authors, based on my experience, accomplish both goals.

http://richardbistrong.blogspot.jp/2014/04/how-to-bribe-by-transparency.html

Client Alert by Davis Polk, containing many lessons to be learned regarding FCPA compliance and enforcemnt.(By Paul T. Friedman, Stacey M. Sprenkel and Tiffany A. Rowe)

On March 20, Marubeni agreed to pay an $88 million fine and plead guilty to foreign bribery charges handed down by the DOJ, markingMarubeni’s second payout in three years. Marubeni stood accused of bribing high-ranking officials in Indonesia in order to secure a $118 million contract for an energy project as part of a consortium. Once again, digital discovery of email traffic made it easy for the DOJ to pursue Marubeni:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – 　The Securities and Exchange Commission will soon review recommendations for possible regulatory action targeting proxy advisory firms, SEC Chair Mary Jo White said on Wednesday.

White did not offer any details on what kinds of new rules or changes could be in store for proxy advisory firms like Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, which help large institutional investors weigh how to vote on critical company issues such as board elections and compensation.

The whistleblower will get $64 million as a reward for tips leading to this settlement on a FCA violation: (DOJ) The Department of Justice today announced that JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) will pay $614 million for violating the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting non-compliant mortgage loans submitted for insurance coverage and guarantees by […]

By Tom Redmond, Anna Kitanaka and Takashi Hirokawa Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is planning a governance code for Japanese companies to boost their competitiveness and enhance investor protection, an official said.