October 26, 2021

US-based multinational company sets aside $160 million for potential resolution of foreign bribery issues

Honeywell International Inc., a North Carolina-based multinational company operating in aerospace, building technologies, and numerous other areas of business, reported in an October 22, 2021 securities filing that it had recorded a $160 million charge on its balance sheet in anticipation of a potential comprehensive resolution of ongoing investigations by the US Department of Justice, US Securities and Exchange Commission, and Brazilian authorities into potential violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar Brazilian laws.  As set out in the Company’s filing, the government investigations—which Honeywell first disclosed in 2019—concern (i) a Company subsidiary’s involvement with Unaoil S.A.M. in Algeria and (ii) the Company’s use of third parties in contracts involving Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.

Honeywell’s filing states that the company is continuing to engage in discussions towards a resolution but could not predict the potential timing, terms, or collateral consequences of such a resolution.  However, it noted that it did not expect that any difference between the amount payable in any such resolution and the $160 million recorded charge “would be material with respect to [its] consolidated financial position.”

Form 10-Q