SEC v. Alcatel Lucent, S.A. (S.D. Fla. 2010)

• Case Name
• SEC v. Alcatel Lucent, S.A. (S.D. Fla. 2010)

• Date Filed
• 12/30/2010

• Enforcement Agency
• SEC

• Countries
• Costa Rica, Honduras, Malaysia, Taiwan

• Foreign Official
• Officials of state-owned entities and government agencies including, but not limited to, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad S.A. (Costa Rica); Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones (Honduras); Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Honduras); Telekom Malaysia Berhad (Malaysia); and Taiwan Railway Administration (Taiwan).

• Date of Conduct
• 2001 to 2006

• Nature of Business
• Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. is a French-based provider of telecommunications equipment and services and other technology products.  It was created after the merger of Alcatel, S.A. (a French corporation) and Lucent Technologies, Inc. (a U.S. corporation) in 2006.  During the relevant period of time, Alcatel maintained a class of shares on the New York Stock Exchange pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act.

• Influence to be Obtained
• According to a complaint filed by the SEC, between 2001 and 2006, Alcatel S.A. (“Alcatel”) and its subsidiaries, including Alcatel CIT, S.A., Alcatel Standard, A.G., and Alcatel de Costa Rica, S.A., paid bribes to government officials in Costa Rica, Honduras, Taiwan, and Malaysia, to obtain or retain telecommunications contracts.  The payments were allegedly undocumented or improperly recorded as consulting fees in the books of Alcatel’s subsidiaries.  All of the alleged payments took place before Alcatel’s merger with Lucent Technologies in November 2006.  Lucent Technologies itself entered into a separate agreements in December 2007 with the DOJ and the SEC related to pre‑merger offenses.

• Enforcement
• On December 29, 2010, Alcatel‑Lucent consented to entry of a final judgment without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC’s complaint, which had been filed on December 27, 2010.  Alcatel‑Lucent was ordered to pay disgorgement of $28,990,937 and prejudgment interest of $16,381,063, for a total of $45,372,000, and to engage an independent compliance monitor for a term of three years.
  
  On December 20, 2010, Alcatel‑Lucent entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ connected to similar charges.

• Amount of the Value
• Approximately $463 million.

• Amount of Business Related to Payment
• Not Stated.

• Intermediary
• Consultants; Subsidiaries.

• Citizenship of Parent Entity
• France

• Total Sanction
• $ 45,372,000

• Compliance Monitor
• Yes

• Reporting Requirements
• No

• Case is Pending?
• No

• Total Combined Monetary Sanction
• $ 137,372,000

• Related Enforcement Actions
• United States v. Christian Sapsizian and Edgar Valverde Acosta (S.D. Fla. 2006)
  In re Lucent Technologies Inc. (2007)
  United States v. Alcatel Lucent, S.A. (S.D. Fla. 2010)
  United States v. Alcatel Lucent France, S.A., Alcatel Lucent Trade Int’l, A.G., and Alcatel Centroamerica, S.A (S.D. Fla. 2010)
  SEC v. Lucent Technologies Inc. (D.D.C. 2007)
  

Alcatel Lucent, S.A.

• Citation
• SEC v. Alcatel-Lucent, S.A., No. 10-cv-24620 (S.D. Fla. 2010).

• Date Filed
• 12/30/2010

• Filed Under Seal
• No

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

• Other Statutory Provision
• None

• Disposition
• Complaint and Consent Order

• Defendant Jurisdictional Basis
• Issuer

• Defendant's Citizenship
• France