Long-Festering FCPA Case Settles, With Legal Questions Unanswered

A last-minute settlement in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case left unanswered some important legal questions – the parameters of the “facilitating payments” exception to the FCPA and questions regarding individual scienter – that seemed on the verge of being clarified, write Steptoe & Johnson attorneys Tom Best, Lucinda Low and Andrew Bardi. The settlements were perceived to be favorable to the defendants, a former CEO and former Nigeria country manager for a London-based oil drilling company with substantial operations in Houston, but the case did make clear that the SEC is willing to go after individuals after it has settled with the companies that employed them.