On September 27, 2022, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement with Oracle Corporation (Oracle) to resolve allegations that its subsidiaries in India, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by creating off-the-books slush funds and using those slush funds to bribe foreign government officials.
Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Oracle agreed to cease and desist from violating the anti-bribery, books and records, and accounting provisions of the FCPA and to pay approximately $8 million in disgorgement and a $15 million penalty.
Notably for both attorneys and companies, the SEC’s order provides insights into how to design an effective corporate compliance program to minimize legal risk, including FCPA risk.
The SEC’s Findings
The SEC found that, from at least 2014 to 2019, Oracle’s subsidiaries in India, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates “used discount schemes and sham marketing reimbursement payments” to finance slush funds, which were held by Oracle’s “channel partners” (i.e., distributors and resellers) in those markets. The subsidiaries transacted through these channel partners during the relevant period under Oracle’s indirect sales model, by which channel partners sell Oracle products to end customers. According to the SEC, the subsidiaries and the complicit channel partners used the slush funds—which employees of the subsidiaries referred to as the “buffer,” “moneybox,” “pool,” and “wallet”—to bribe government officials in return for business. Specifically, the SEC determined that, among other things, (i) employees of Oracle Turkey and Oracle UAE used slush funds to pay for travel for government officials, including to Oracle’s annual technology conference in California; (ii) an Oracle Turkey employee directed cash bribes to government officials; (iii) an Oracle UAE employee paid approximately $130,000 in bribes to the chief technology officer of a state-owned entity (SOE) in return for six contracts in 2018 and 2019; (iv) Oracle India employees funneled $330,000 to an entity known for paying government officials; and (v) an Oracle India employee maintained a spreadsheet indicating that $67,000 was available to make payments to a government official.
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