On June 3, 2024, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications giant, announced the conclusion of the monitorship imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice in June 2020 following an investigation of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in several jurisdictions.
The monitorship involved a comprehensive review and assessment of Ericsson’s global anti-corruption compliance program. It was a component of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement entered into with the DOJ in December 2019, when Ericsson agreed to pay over $1 billion to settle the authorities’ investigation of the company’s role in conspiracies to violate the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. At the same time, Ericsson’s Egyptian subsidiary pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions, and the parent company settled related allegations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In October 2021, the DOJ found that Ericsson had breached the terms of the DPA, which required the company to disclose all factual information and evidence related to the bribery schemes that gave rise to the DPA, as well as evidence and allegations relating to possible FCPA violations in other jurisdictions. In March 2023, Ericsson pleaded guilty to the charges that had been deferred four years earlier, submitted to the extension of the compliance monitorship by one year, and paid an additional criminal penalty of over $206 million.
In its press release announcing the conclusion of the monitorship and the end of the DPA, Ericsson noted that the monitor had certified the company’s compliance in March 2024, and the DOJ had accepted this result. Ericsson’s chief executive officer added that the company was continuing to cooperate fully with DOJ and SEC investigations into historical conduct, saying, “Our commitment to integrity is rock solid and we have no tolerance for corruption, fraud or other misconduct.”