Alstom has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve the investigation into alleged violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
After many years of investigations and extensive discussions with the authorities, two US subsidiaries, Alstom Power Inc. and Alstom Grid Inc. (formerly known as Alstom T&D Inc.), have agreed to enter into deferred prosecution agreements with the DOJ relating to FCPA charges. If the two US subsidiaries fulfil the terms of their deferred prosecution agreements, all criminal charges will be dismissed against them at the end of three years.
An Alstom subsidiary, Alstom Network Schweiz AG (formerly known as Alstom Prom AG), has agreed to plead guilty to FCPA antibribery charges. In relation to these underlying charges, Alstom S.A. has agreed to plead guilty to violating the books and records and internal controls provisions of the FCPA and to pay a fine of approximately $772 million. The DOJ has also stipulated that no part of the fine can be passed on to General Electric as part of the projected sale of Alstom’s energy businesses.
“There were a number of problems in the past and we deeply regret that,” said Alstom CEO Patrick Kron. “However, this resolution with the DOJ allows Alstom to put this issue behind us and to continue our efforts to ensure that business is conducted in a responsible way, consistent with the highest ethical standards.”
Alstom has made significant progress in the area of compliance over the last several years. The conduct referred to in the agreement mainly arose from the use of external success fee based Sales Consultants hired by Alstom to support its commercial teams. In order to ensure that Alstom strives for the best compliance procedures, Alstom has discontinued the hiring of such Sales Consultants. Further, pursuant to a negotiated resolution agreement with the World Bank, Alstom committed in Feb 2012 to continue to improve its internal compliance programme, including by retaining a monitor to oversee its efforts in this regard. To date, the work of the Monitor has confirmed that Alstom has put in place a Corporate Compliance Programme that reflects the principles embedded in the WBG's Integrity Compliance Guidelines.
As indicated during the recent shareholders’ meeting where the transaction with General Electric on Alstom’s energy businesses was approved, the combination of the positive adjustments arising from commercial discussions with General Electric on various deal points and of the resolution of the DOJ investigation will not have a material impact on the overall economics of this transaction.
