SEC NAMES TOUGH NEW HEAD OF FOREIGN BRIBERY UNIT HERALDING INCREASED ENFORCEMENT AND MONITORING

The Securities and Exchange Commission, bent on HEIGHTENING its enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibiting bribes to foreign officials, has announed that it is appointing Kara Brockmeyer as Chief of its Foreign Corrupt Practice Act unit. Brockmeyer recently served as assistant director of the agency’s enforcement division. In a case lef by Brockmeyer, the oil services firms Halliburon, KBR, Technip SA and ENI SpA paid over $1.2 billion to settle claims with the SEC that they bribed officials in Nigeria for the rights to build natural gas facilities there.