Dun & Bradstreet Declination Offers Lessons Learned
The Department of Justice recently issued its eighth public declination in a FCPA case and the first under its FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy, an indication that the policy is alive and well. But the case also brings with it a clear warning: The anti-bribery provisions are not the only way to trip over the FCPA.
The SEC fined commercial data and analytics provider Dun & Bradstreet $9 million after FCPA charges arose from misconduct at two of D&B’s indirect subsidiaries in China. The two Chinese subsidiaries – HDBC and Roadway – allegedly made unlawful payments to Chinese officials through third-party agents and kickbacks to obtain otherwise non-public financial statement data that was vital to D&B’s business as a provider of business financial information.
HDBC and Roadway did not accurately reflect these unlawful payments in their books and records, which were then consolidated into D&B’s books and records.
