Harris Corporation (Harris) announced in a regulatory filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had launched an investigation into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by China-based employees of a recently acquired company. Harris announced its intention to fully cooperate with the investigation.

The United States (US) Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced that former Willbros International Inc consultant Paul Novak has been penalised US$1 million and sentenced to serve 15 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to bribe Nigerian government and political party officials with over US$6 million in payments.

Ralph Lauren Corp. has agreed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) to pay $1.6 million in order to settle charges the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The charges related to bribes paid to government officials in Argentina between 2005 and 2009. The company discovered the violations through an internal audit and reported them to the SEC and DOJ.

Oil service company Parker Drilling Co. has agreed to pay $15.9 million to settle allegations it tried to bribe a Nigerian government official to reduce fines the company was facing. $11.8 million will go towards settling the Department of Justice’s charges that the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and $4.1 million will go to settle a civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Wal-Mart) indicated it was ‘probable’ that they would incur a loss because of its ongoing bribery investigations. Wal-Mart does not think the loss will be material at this point, but said that could change in the future. Last April, allegations surfaced that the company failed to report the fact that company officials authorized millions of dollars in payments to Mexican government officials to speed up the acquisition of building permits and other favors.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have opened preliminary bribery investigations into Microsoft’s possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). According to a person briefed on the inquiry, an unnamed whistleblower came forward last year claiming a Microsoft official in China instructed the whistleblower to pay bribes to government officials in order to win business. The agencies are also investigating claims of misconduct in Italy and Romania. According to the person briefed on the inquiry, Microsoft conducted an internal investigation on the China accusations in 2010 with the aid of an outside law firm and found no evidence of improper behavior.

The Las Vegas Sands Corporation (Sands) indicated in its annual regulatory filing last week that its audit committee and independent accountants had concluded that the company likely violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The admission comes at the same time the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been conducting an investigation into the company’s activities in China. According to the filing, Sands is cooperating with all investigations and the company did not believe the filing would have an impact on financial statements or necessitate revisions to its past statements.

Tom Mars, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Wal-Mart) chief administrative officer, will leave the company on March 13 after more than ten years with the retail giant. Wal-Mart declined to elaborate on the reason for his departure. Mars was the company’s general counsel from 2002 to 2009. He was involved in an investigation into bribery allegations regarding a Wal-Mart store built near Mexican pyramids. Member of two House committees began an investigation into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after the New York Times reported in 2012 that Wal-Mart executives learned in 2005 of allegations that bribes were used to gain government approval of Wal-Mart store openings in Mexico.

Both the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the UK Bribery Act require that organizations undertake comprehensive anti-bribery risk assessments as a first step towards compliance with their mandates. From a practical perspective, it makes perfect sense that companies should first seek to understand risk exposure and the issues they face before taking action to address them. Conveniently, not only do risk assessments uncover areas of risk, well-executed assessments also help illuminate mitigation prioritization for the risks identified.

3M Company (3M) announced this week that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) informed the company in January that they would be dropping their bribery investigation without taking any actions. The agencies had been investigating 3M since 2009 regarding possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) after the company voluntarily disclosed it was conducting an internal probe into one of its subsidiaries located in Turkey.