Albemarle Corporation Agrees to Pay over $103 Million to Settle SEC's FCPA Allegations

The SEC has announced that Albemarle Corporation, a global specialty chemicals company based in Charlotte, NC, has agreed to pay more than $103.6 million to settle charges related to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The allegations included using agents who paid bribes in order to gain sales from oil refineries in Vietnam, India, and Indonesia from 2009-2017. In addition, the SEC found that Albemarle had violated FCPA’s recordkeeping requirements and failed to devise and maintain sufficient internal accounting controls to ensure that payments to agents in several countries were for legitimate services. To settle these charges, Albemarle has agreed to pay a disgorgement of $81.8 million plus prejudgment interest of $21.7 million and cease and desist from any future violations. The U.S. Department of Justice has also announced that Albemarle will pay a $99 million criminal fine and forfeiture of $98 million as part of a non-prosecution agreement.