Societe Generale S.A. was a global financial services company headquartered in Paris, France.
SGA Societe Generale Acceptance, N.V. ("SGA") was a wholly-owned Societe Generale subsidiary organized under the laws of Curacao that partnered with Societe Generale in the issuance of structured notes to Libyan state agencies and instrumentalities.
Between 2005 and 2011, after broad economic sanctions against Libya were lifted, various of the country's state agencies, including Libya's sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority, and other state-owned financial firms, sought to place substantial financial investments with global financial institutions, including Societe Generale and at least eight U.S.-based companies. During this time, Societe Generale was using a Libyan intermediary to help solicit the investments to the company. According to the documents filed in this case, by at least 2006, several Societe Generale employees and others knew that the Libyan Intermediary was paying bribes to Libyan government officials in order to secure the investments for Societe Generale, and the company continued to use the intermediary despite that knowledge. During this period, Societe Generale, through SGA and often in partnership with a U.S.-based investment management firm, paid the intermediary approximately $90.74 million to sell the Libyan financial agencies 14 structured notes worth a total of approximately $3.66 billion. Societe Generale eamed profits of approximately $523 million in connection with these deals.
On June 7, 2018, the DOJ filed a single count Information in the Eastern District of New York against SGA alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. The DOJ announced the filing of charges and the related settlement on June 4. On the same date, SGA entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ. Under the terms of the agreement, SGA pled guilty to the FCPA charge and agreed to pay a criminal monetary penalty of $500,000 plus a mandatory assessment of $400. SGA's penalty was paid by Societe Generale as part of its deferred proseuction agreement with the DOJ detailed below.
In related proceedings, on June 11, 2018, the DOJ filed a two count Information in the Eastern District of New York against Societe Generale alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and conspiracy to transmit false, misleading and knowingly inaccurate commodities reports. The second count is related to Societe Generale's misconduct surrounding its LIBOR submissions, which is not detailed here. The DOJ announced the filing of charges and the related settlement on June 4. On the same date, Societe Generale entered into a three year deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ. Under the terms of the agreement, Societe Generale agreed to pay a criminal monetary penalty of $585 million in connection with the FCPA allegation (this includes a $500,000 fine levied against SGA in a related proceeding) and to self-report to the DOJ on the status of the company's anti-corruption compliance for a term of three years. The company agreed to pay half of the $585 million fine to the French authorities as part of its global settlement of the FCPA misconduct. The company also committed to paying an additional criminal monetary penalty of $275 million in connection with the LIBOR misconduct. In all, Societe Generale agreed to pay more than $860 million to U.S. and French authorities.
