Akamai Settles FCPA Investigation Into Payments to Employees of State-Owned Entities in China

Akamai Settles FCPA Investigation Into Payments to Employees of State-Owned Entities in China

June 13, 2016, Covington Alert

On June 7, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”) with Akamai, Inc., an internet cloud services company, in connection with an investigation of possible violations of the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) based on payments by its China subsidiary to employees of state-owned entities (“SOEs”) in China. Under the NPA, Akamai agreed to pay over $670,000 in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest, but Akamai was not charged with violating the FCPA and did not have to pay additional penalties. Additionally, as part of its recently announced enforcement pilot program, the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a letter of declination to Akamai closing its inquiry into the matter.