A&O Shearman FCPA Digest | In re Noble Corp. (2010)

Source Documents

Nature of Business
Noble Corporation (“Noble”) is an international oil and gas drilling contractor that owns and operates drilling rigs through its subsidiaries and affiliates.

Influence to be Obtained
Between January 2003 and May 2007, Noble’s Nigerian subsidiary (“Noble-Nigeria”) paid a total of approximately $74,000 as “special handling charges” to its Nigerian customs agent. Noble-Nigeria and certain employees of Noble Drilling Services Inc., Noble’s U.S. subsidiary, were aware that some or all of the money paid to the Nigerian customs agent would be paid to the Nigeria Customs Service officials for the purpose of illegally obtaining extensions for the temporary import permits for the rigs in Nigerian waters, so as to avoid the need to either permanently import the rigs or export and re-import the rigs to obtain new temporary import permits.

Enforcement
In June 2007, Noble informed the DOJ that it was conducting an internal investigation of its operations in Nigeria and thereafter disclosed the findings and fully cooperated with the government’s investigations. On November 4, 2010, the DOJ and Noble entered into a non-prosecution agreement, under which Noble agreed to pay a penalty of $2,590,000, review and revise its existing internal controls, policies, and procedures as necessary, and provide a yearly report to the DOJ on the remediation and implementation of its compliance program and internal controls, policies, and procedures for a period of three years. In a related proceeding brought by the SEC, Noble, without admitting or denying the allegations, consented to the entry of final judgment, under which Noble would pay a total of $5,576,998 in disgorgement of its profits gained and costs avoided, with prejudgment interest.