Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. ("Clear Channel"), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, operated in the out-of-home advertising industry. Clear Channel’s separated from its then-corporate parent, iHeartMedia, Inc., as part of that company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and emerged as a standalone, publicly traded company. Clear Channel’s common stock was registered with the SEC and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Clear Channel operated in China through its majority-owned, indirect subsidiary, Clear Media Limited.
According to the documents in this case, between 2012 and 2017, Clear Media provided improper benefits to obtain and renew concessions and advertising contracts in China and failed to appropriately document and record those payments in its books and records. To obtain concession contracts from local Chinese government transport authorities, Clear Media provided cash-equivalent gift cards, golf clubs, vases, and other expensive and unidentified gifts and entertainment, and the principal executive officer for the company spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on government officials for first-class travel, hotel rooms, meals, and entertainment. Clear Media’s documentation often failed to identify the officials who received the benefits or to specify the amount spent on each official’s behalf. In all, Clear Channel received approximately $16.4 million in benefits as a result of Clear Media’s improper payments.
In a settled administrative proceeding initiated on September 28, 2023, the SEC ordered Clear Channel to cease and desist violating the antibribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. Under the terms of the settlement, Clear Channel agreed to pay disgorgement of $16,355,567 plus prejudgment interest of $3,760,920 and a civil monetary penalty of $6,000,000. The SEC noted Clear Channel's cooperation and remediation.
