James Koukios spoke to Anti-Corruption Report about Luxembourg-based steel pipe manufacturer Tenaris agreeing to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) more than $78 million to resolve charges related to its Brazilian subsidiary paying bribes to a Brazilian government official between 2008 and 2013, though the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated that it does not intend to pursue its own charges.
The DOJ declining to prosecute is supported by the inclusion of a civil penalty in the SEC order, but DOJ did not send the company a Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) declination letter. "The lack of a CEP declination letter suggests that DOJ declined due to a lack of evidence or the existence of a compelling defense, as opposed to a policy-based declination," James said.
He added: "Although the SEC stated that Tenaris had failed to implement adequate internal accounting controls in the wake of the 2011 resolution, a good portion of the underlying conduct took place before the original resolution was reached and appears to have stopped in or around 2013. That gave Tenaris many years to enhance its compliance program and remediate issues before the resolution."
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