Innospec Related News

In March, Innospec (a global chemical company) settled bribery enforcement actions on both sides of the Atlantic (see here).

This post discusses recent Innospec news - the SEC enforcement action against an Innospec agent (an individual who previously plead guilty to a DOJ enforcement action - see here) and a former Business Director at the company; a civil suit filed by an Innospec competitor in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia; and how Innospec continues to grow its cash coffers despite receiving a pass on $50 million in fines and penalties in the March enforcement action based on inability to pay.

SEC Enforcement Action Against Turner and Naaman

Last week, the SEC added to Ousama Naaman's legal woes charging him (see here) with civil FCPA anti-bribery violations, knowingly circumventing or knowingly falsifying books and records, and aiding and abetting Innospec's FCPA books and records and internal control violations. According to the SEC release (see here) Naaman, Innospec's agent in Iraq, agreed to disgorge $810,076 plus prejudgment interest of $67,030 and pay a penalty of $438,038 that will be deemed satisfied by his criminal fine. The disgorgement amount represents commissions Naaman received from Innospec "for his role in funneling bribe payments." To my knowledge, the approximate $877,000 the SEC will recover from Naaman is the largest SEC recovery against an individual FCPA defendant.

In the same complaint, the SEC also charged David Turner, the Business Director of Innospec's TEL Group, with the same substantive charges as Naaman. According to the complaint, Turner (a U.K. citizen who left Innospec in June 2009) "actively participated" in Innospec's bribery and kickback schemes in Iraq and "actively participated" in Innospec's bribery scheme in Indonesia.

According to the complaint:

"Turner was aware of the kickback scheme in connection with the Oil for Food Program. At some point in late 2002 or early 2003 Innospec's internal auditors questioned Turner about the nature of the commission payments that were made to Naaman under the U.N. Oil for Food Program. Turner made false statements to the auditors and concealed the fact that the commission payments to Naaman included kickbacks to the Iraqi government in return for Oil for Food contracts. Turner also made false statements when he signed annual-certifications that were provided to auditors up until 2008 where Turner falsely stated that he had complied with Innospec's Code of Ethics incorporating the company's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act policy prohibiting kickbacks and bribery, and that he was unaware of any violations of the Code of Ethics by anyone at Innospec."

Even after the Oil for Food Program was terminated in late 2003, the complaint alleges that "Turner, along with senior officials at Innospec, directed and approved" additional bribe payments to Iraqi officials. In addition, the complaint alleges that "Turner and other Innospec officials directed and authorized payments, through Naaman, to fund lavish trips for Iraqi officials."

As to Indonesia, the complaint alleges that "Turner, along with senior officials at Innospec, authorized and directed the payment of bribes to Indonesian government officials from at least 2000 through 2005, in order to win contracts for Innospec for the sale of TEL to state owned oil and gas companies in Indonesia." According to the complaint, Turner and other Innospec officials and employees used various "euphemisms" in e-mail communications and in discussions to refer to the bribery scheme.

According to the complaint, Turner "obtained $40,000 in bonuses that were tied to the success of the TEL sales, which were procured through bribery."

According to the SEC release, Turner, without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, consented to entry of a final judgment requiring him to disgorge $40,000. The release states that no civil penalty will be imposed on Turner "based on, among other things, Turner's extensive and ongoing cooperation in the investigation."

Competitor Sues Innospec

The FCPA does not have a private right of action (although as I explored in this post it would be interesting if a court were faced with this issue today).

However, a company that settles an FCPA enforcement action increasingly faces collateral litigation, most often shareholder derivative claims. If a plaintiff does craft a direct cause of action against the company, it is usually a RICO claim.

As noted in this Richmond Times-Dispatch story, NewMarket Corp.'s civil case against Innospec does not fit the above mold, rather it alleges that Innospec's conduct, as set forth in the DOJ and SEC enforcement actions, violated the Robinson-Patman Act and the Virginia Antitrust Act as well as the Virginia Business Conspiracy Act.

The article quotes NewMarket's principal financial officer as saying that the company learned of Innospec's actions after reading the documents released in connection with the March enforcement action. Among other things, the DOJ and SEC alleged that Innospec's bribe payments in Iraq ensured that a field test of a competitor's fuel additive failed. NewMarket claims that the competitor was a subsidiary company Ethyl Petroleum Additives Inc. which now goes by the name Afton Chemical Corp.

Innospec Continues to Be In the Money

In this prior post I highlighted how Innospec was ordered to pay $60,071,613 in disgorgement in the SEC's enforcement action, but because of Innospec's "sworn Statement of Financial Condition" all but $11,200,000 of that disgorgement was waived.

In other words, Innospec got a pass on approximately $50 million in March.

I then noted that Innospec's first quarter financial results were positive and that
"as of March 31, 2010, Innospec had $67.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, $22.5million more than its total debt of $45.0 million."

Innospec recently reported its second quarter financial results and it continues to be in the money. As noted in this company release:

"As of June 30, 2010, Innospec had $77.0 million in cash and cash equivalents, $30.0 million more than its total debt of $47.0 million."

The company's President and Chief Executive Officer stated that “Innospec’s second quarter operating results were very strong, with impressive double-digit increases in sales and operating income across all three business segments."

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An Interesting Corollary

Last week's guest post (here) about the 1988 amendments to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the DOJ's decision not to issue compliance guidance provides an interesting corollary to private rights of action under the FCPA.

How so?

Around the same general time frame as the 1988 FCPA amendments, several courts addressed the issue of whether the FCPA contained an implied private right of action.

The answer was no.

Guess what was a key factor in the courts' reasoning?

The guidance that Congress envisioned the Attorney General would issue.

The leading FCPA private right of action case is Lamb v. Phillip Morris Inc., 915 F.2d 1024 (6th Cir. 1990).

Here is what the court had to say:

"Recognition of the plaintiffs' proposed private right of action, in our view, would directly contravene the carefully tailored FCPA scheme presently in place. Congress recently expanded the Attorney General's responsibilities to include facilitating compliance with the FCPA. See 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1(e), 78dd-2(f). Specifically, the Attorney General must 'establish a procedure to provide responses to specific inquiries' by issuers of securities and other domestic concerns regarding 'conformance of their conduct with the Department of Justice's [FCPA] enforcement policy....' 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1(e)(1), 78dd-2(f)(1). Moreover, the Attorney General must furnish 'timely guidance concerning the Department of Justice's [FCPA] enforcement policy ... to potential exporters and small businesses that are unable to obtain specialized counsel on issues pertaining to [FCPA] provisions.' 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1(e)(4), 78dd-2(f)(4). Because this legislative action clearly evinces a preference for compliance in lieu of prosecution, the introduction of private plaintiffs interested solely in post-violation enforcement, rather than pre-violation compliance, most assuredly would hinder congressional efforts to protect companies and their employees concerned about FCPA liability."

Given that the expected Attorney General guidance was a key factor in the court's reasoning that the FCPA does not contain a implied private right of action, how would a court address this issue today given that the Attorney General never issued the guidance?

Also, what about the snippet from the Sixth Circuit's opinion - that the 1988 amendments "clearly evinces a preference for compliance in lieu of prosecution."

In this era of so-called aggressive FCPA enforcement, does the DOJ have its priorities backwards

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If H.R. 2152 Were to Be Enacted ...

There is little in terms of substantive FCPA case law. Yet this much is clear - there is no private right of action under the FCPA - enforcement of the law is in the hands of the DOJ and the SEC (as to issuers).

However, Representative Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) would like to change that (at least a bit). In April, 2009, Perlumutter introduced H.R. 2152 - the Foreign Business Bribery Prohibition Act of 2009 (see here).

Big picture, under the proposed law, any "foreign concern" (defined to mean any person other than an issuer, domestic concern or U.S. person) that violates the FCPA's anti-bribery provisions would be liable to any issuer, domestic concern or U.S. person for damages caused by the FCPA violation. Under the proposed law, a plaintiff would need to prove that: (i) the "foreign concern" violated the FCPA's anti-bribery provisions; and (ii) the violation prevented the plaintiff from obtaining or retaining business and assisted the foreign concern in obtaining or retaining business.

In other words, if a U.S. company can prove that it lost business because a "foreign concern" gained that same business by violating the FCPA, the U.S. company could bring a lawsuit seeking damages. Under the proposed law, the damages would be the higher of the total amount of the contract or agreement that the "foreign concern" gained in obtaining or retaining the business or the total amount of the contract or agreement that the plaintiff failed to gain. To sweeten the pot, the proposed law requires treble damages along with attorneys fees and costs.

Certainly, lots to think about here.

But alas, with two foreign wars, government bailouts and debates about financial regulation, and now, the health care debate, H.R. 2152 remains buried in Congress. The last reported activity is from June 12, 2009 when the bill was reported to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

It's been a few months since I thought about H.R. 2152.

But I was reminded of the law and its potential application last night while reading an interesting front-page article in the New York Times titled "China Spreads Aid in Africa, With a Catch for Recipients" (see here).

The article talks about business activity by Chinese companies around the globe, and how, according to quoted sources, Chinese companies may be securing contracts through improper payments, kickbacks and the like.

A good portion of the article is about Nuctech Company Ltd. (a Beijing-based scanner company) and its questionable activity in Namibia. The article quotes the Vice President of Nuctech's "American rival, Rapiscan Systems."

I trust you are now thinking about the potential application of H.R. 2152 as well?

Let's go through the elements - "foreign concern" check, potential violation of the FCPA check, a domestic concern damaged by the "foreign concern's" violation check.

Before FCPA lawyers start dusting off their copy of the rules of civil procedure and daydreaming about H.R. 2152's promise of treble damages and attorney fees, H.R. 2152 needs to at least get "out of committee."

In any event, for those in favor of H.R. 2152, the article would seem to present a poster-child of sorts.

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