Jeffrey Alberts Speaks to The Wall Street Journal about Changes to BHP’s Compliance Program
Jeffrey Alberts, head of Pryor Cashman’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice, is quoted in The Wall Street Journal article entitled, “BHP Changed its Compliance Program Amid FCPA Probe.”
Australian mining giant BHP Billiton stated that it revolutionized its corporate compliance program after the misconduct that led to a $25 million fine by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC fined the company for sponsoring travel for foreign officials to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company didn’t admit or deny the SEC’s findings when reaching the settlement.
Alberts stated that internal controls issues laid out in the BHP settlement documents were problematic from the start. By spelling out BHP’s alleged controls failures, the SEC provided ways for companies to modify their practices to avoid similar penalties in the future. “When a review role is played by someone with a business interest instead of a compliance interest, it tends to result in that employee’s focus not being on compliance issues.” said Alberts.
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