In late July 2017, there was an announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the resolution of its outstanding Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action with Halliburton. In a Cease and Desist Order which also covered former employee Jeannot Lorenz, the SEC spelled out a bribery scheme facilitated by both a failure and over-ride of company internal controls. The matter involved Halliburton’s work in Angola with the national oil company Sonangol, which had a local content requirement. The nefarious acts giving rise to the FCPA violation involved a third-party agent for Halliburton’s contracts with the state-owned enterprise.
This whitepaper looks at the action itself — and offers compelling lessons learned regarding internal controls failures.
