In the Matter of Hyperdynamics Corporation (2015)

• Case Name
• In the Matter of Hyperdynamics Corporation (2015)

• Date Filed
• 09/29/2015

• Enforcement Agency
• SEC

• Countries
• Guinea

• Foreign Official
• Not Stated

• Date of Conduct
• 2007 to 2008

• Nature of Business
• Hyperdynamics Corporation is an oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Houston, Texas and incorporated in Delaware.  Hyperdynamics has registered stock with the SEC under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act, and its shares are traded on OTCQX—an over-the-counter marketplace.

• Influence to be Obtained
• According to the SEC, Hyperdynamics purchased the rights to a small oil company with exclusive drilling rights off the coast of Guinea in 2001.  In 2005, the company opened a subsidiary in Guinea to facilitate its ongoing operations.
  
  The SEC claims that between 2007 and 2008, Hyperdynamics, through its Guinean subsidiary, paid $130,000 for public relations and lobbying services in Guinea to two entities—$55,000 to BerMia Service SRL and $75,000 to Africa Business Service.  In 2008, Hyperdynamics allegedly discovered that an employee of its Guinean subsidiary controlled both BerMia Service SRL and Africa Business Service and was the sole signatory for African Business Service.  According to the SEC, Hyperdynamics could not determine how the two companies spent the $130,000 and whether Hyperdynamics received any services in return.  Further, the SEC states that Hyperdynamics was unable to retrieve the funds.  The SEC claims that although there was no evidence indicating that the $130,000 payment was spent on public relations and lobbying activities, Hyperdynamics characterized the funds as such on its books and records.

• Enforcement
• On September 29, 2015 the SEC announced that it settled its enforcement action against Hyperdynamics through an administrative proceeding.  According to the cease-and-desist order, Hyperdynamics agreed to pay a civil penalty of $75,000 for alleged violations of the FCPA’s books-and-records and internal controls provisions.

• Amount of the Value
• $130,000.

• Amount of Business Related to Payment
• Not Stated

• Intermediary
• Consultant; Subsidiary.

• Citizenship of Parent Entity
• United States

• Total Sanction
• $ 75,000

• Compliance Monitor
• No

• Reporting Requirements
• No

• Case is Pending?
• No

• Total Combined Monetary Sanction
• $ 75,000

Hyperdynamics Corporation 

• Citation
• In the Matter of Hyperdynamics Corp., Admin. Pro. File No. 3-16843 (Sept. 29, 2015).

• Date Filed
• 09/29/2015

• Filed Under Seal
• No

• FCPA Statutory Provision
• • Books-and-Records
  • Internal Controls

• Other Statutory Provision
• None

• Disposition
• Cease-and-Desist Order

• Defendant Jurisdictional Basis
• Issuer

• Defendant's Citizenship
• United States