Aon Corporation is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and is a global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital solutions and outsourcing. Its common stock is registered with the Commission pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Thus, Aon is an issuer pursuant to the FCPA.
On December 20, 2011, the SEC filed a two count complaint against Aon alleging violations of the Books & Records and Internal Controls provisions of the FCPA. The complaint alleged that Aon’s subsidiaries made over $3.6 million in improper payments to various parties between 1983 and 2007. The improper payments made by Aon’s subsidiaries fell into two general categories: (i) training, travel, and entertainment provided to employees of foreign government-owned clients and third parties; and (ii) payments made to third-party facilitators in various countries around the world, including Costa Rica, Egypt, Vietnam, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. The payments were made in order to to obtain or retain insurance business in those countries. The complaint alleged that these payments were not accurately reflected in Aon’s books and records, and that Aon failed to maintain an adequate internal control system reasonably designed to detect and prevent the improper payments. The complaint alleged that Aon realized over $11.4 million in profits from these improper payments.
On the same date, Aon entered into a consent agreement with the SEC over the alleged conduct. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Aon consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining it from future violations of Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act and ordering the company to pay disgorgement of $11,416,814 in profits, together with prejudgment interest thereon of $3,128,206, for a total of $14,545,020.
In a related criminal proceeding, Aon has entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ under which the company paid a $1.764 million criminal fine for the misconduct.
