The Criminal Division’s fraud section reported record-breaking penalties this year in corporate settlements resolving egregious conduct. Yet none of the penalised companies were assigned an independent compliance monitor by the US Department of Justice.
In 2020, the Fraud Section has agreed to seven foreign bribery corporate resolutions, including with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and investment bank Goldman Sachs. Earlier this year, Airbus agreed to pay nearly $4 billion to settle bribery and US sanctions violations with the majority of the penalty going to French and UK authorities. Goldman Sachs also entered into a large settlement with the DOJ in October, agreeing to pay nearly $3 billion to resolve its role in a bribery and embezzlement scheme concerning Malaysia’s development fund, 1MDB. Of the total, US authorities will collect almost $2 billion in the 1MDB case, which represents the largest-ever penalty paid to US agencies in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case.
