In The Anti-Corruption Report, Nick Berg Examines Vitol Inc.’s Settlement and DPA Agreement

In The Anti-Corruption Report, litigation & enforcement partner Nick Berg (Chicago) discusses Vitol Inc.’s parallel Department of Justice deferred prosecution agreement and Commodity Futures Trading Commission settlement of charges for fraudulent and manipulative conduct, which took place between 2005 and 2020. In total, Vitol Inc. has agreed to pay $95.7 million for making corrupt payments to agents and state-owned entities in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico, and another $135 million criminal penalty as a part of the Department of Justice agreement to settle two counts of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.

This may be the beginning of a trend of parallel resolutions and interagency coordination, according to attorneys. “Commodity traders and others subject to CFTC jurisdiction are certainly getting a wake-up call that improper conduct involving trading or market manipulation, to the extent it involves foreign bribery, will be enforced by the CFTC,” said Nick.