UPDATED: Wednesday, May 15 at 6:47 p.m. EDT
Jeff Benjamin appeared to try to dampen interest in the nearly $300 million spent so far on the cosmetic company’s internal foreign bribery probe, which has attracted attention for its high cost.
The SEC has subpoenaed PricewaterhouseCoopers for documents in connection with the Avon probe.
Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White moves closer to chairing the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“At the SEC, there’s no institution too big to charge,” the former Manhattan U.S. Attorney told senators.
For the cosmetics retailer’s foreign bribery probe, 2012 was just about as pricey as 2011 and 2010.
The cosmetics company will make disclosures to shareholders as it resolves apparent U.S. foreign bribery violations uncovered during a costly internal probe.
Others may follow after senior management were axed in connection with a bribery probe, according to the cosmetics company.
Avon Products Inc.’s Andrea Jung, the face of the door-to-door cosmetics seller for 13 years, will step down as executive chairman after a tenure that encompassed slumping earnings, a foreign-bribery investigation and a takeover attempt.
Jung, 54, who was chief executive officer from 1999 until April, will leave at the end of the year and continue as [...]
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) has been told the Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t intend to take action in a long-running probe into whether the company made improper disclosures to Wall Street analysts.
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Avon Products Inc. is in talks with the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission to settle foreign bribery investigations, the company said in a regulatory filing today. UPDATE:
Federal prosecutors looking into possible bribery of foreign officials by Avon Products Inc. have asked to speak to Andrea Jung, the former chief executive and current full-time chairman, people familiar with the matter said.
Shareholders allege that Avon and two top executives knew that bribes might have been paid in China yet told investors that compliance measures were sound.
The Arnold & Porter LLP partner expects to see more foreign bribery probes into private equity and pool of asset cases.
Weatherford, one of the world’s largest oilfield service companies, first disclosed in 2006 that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating it for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in West Africa.
The company hired Claudius Sokenu of Arnold & Porter LLP in New York to conduct an internal investigation into the alleged FCPA violations, after an internal whistleblower told company executives in June 2008 that company employees were bribing Chinese regulators to persuade them to ease restrictions on direct selling.
A complaint alleges breach of fiduciary duty by officers and directors of the cosmetics company. Avon said on Friday the expense of its internal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation is substantial enough to impact results.
In the beginning of 2010 alone, three Fitch-rated companies were involved in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations.
Avon opened the internal probe into possible Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in June 2008, after a employee alerted executives to improper spending on travel for Chinese government officials.
Sheppard Mullin’s Bethany Hengsbach spoke with Main Justice from Shanghai about China and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Sheppard Mullin’s Bethany Hengsbach spoke with Main Justice from Shanghai about China and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Avon, the world’s largest direct seller of cosmetics, disclosed to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2008 that it was investigating certain travel and entertainment expenses incurred by its China unit.
THE PAST AND FUTURE FOR CORPORATE PROSECUTIONS: Orrick partner Michael Madigan discusses his successful defense in 2006 of the former chairman of KPMG’s Tax Department, which led to reduced leverage for prosecutors in pursuing corporation prosecutions.
Mary Jacoby is the founder of Main Justice and Editor-in-Chief of Just Anti-Corruption.
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