The Securites and Exchange Commission fined Halliburton $30 million for bribing a foreign official for an oil servicing contract. It’s the first bribery case the SEC has pursued since the start of the Trump administration.
A whistleblower claimed that Halliburton bribed an Angolan official for $14 million worth of oil business. The company settled without admission.
Southern Illinois University Law Professor Mike Koehler, who specializes in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, calls this fine a garden variety Obama-era action.
“2016 was a record year for FCPA enforcement, so I think that the jury is really out to what enforcement will look like going forward.”
In 2012 businessman Donald Trump called the anti-bribery law "horrible" and said it put American companies at a competitive disadvantage. Earlier this year President Trump eliminated a rule that required companies to disclose when they make payments to foreign officials.
