Honeywell agrees to pay $81M to settle SEC's allegations of bribery
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Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON) agreed to pay more than $81 million to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency accused the industrial conglomerate of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act with bribery schemes in Brazil and Algeria, according to an announcement Monday.
Honeywell's (HON) stock was little changed, rising less than 1% by 1:26 p.m. ET. Three weeks ago, it reached a 52-week high of $221.89 a share.
The SECâs order found that Honeywell (HON) engaged in a bribery scheme involving intermediaries and employees of its U.S. subsidiary to obtain business from Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company.
Honeywell (HON) in 2010 offered at least $4 million in bribes to a Brazilian government official in connection with the bidding process at Petrobras, the SEC said.
The SECâs order also found the following year, employees and agents of Honeywellâs Belgian subsidiary paid more than $75,000 in bribes to an Algerian government official to obtain and retain business with the Algerian state-owned entity Sonatrach.
"For years, Honeywell neglected to implement sufficient internal accounting controls to mitigate against known corruption risks in countries like Brazil and Algeria," Charles Cain, chief of the SEC Enforcement Divisionâs FCPA Unit, said in a statement. "This failure created an environment in which Honeywell employees and agents could and did facilitate bribes."
Honeywell consented to the SECâs order that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The order provides for an offset of as much as $38.7 million of any payments made to Brazilian authorities, making the companyâs minimum payment to the SEC about $42.4 million.
Honeywell in a parallel case entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay more than $78 million to settle criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. Honeywell also agreed to settle additional charges brought by the Brazilian government, according to the SEC.