Siemens
German engineering company with operations in 191 countries
- Entries
- 9
- On the record
- 6
- Stories
- 1
- Latest entry
- Dec 13, 2011
The record
Siemens traces its founding to 1847 in Berlin, where Werner von Siemens set up a workshop of about ten people at Schöneberger Strasse 19, according to the company's historical institute. Siemens AG, the Munich-based parent, listed on the New York Stock Exchange on March 12, 2001; the Justice Department's later Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case counted the company's payments from that listing onward.
Its enforcement record spans Brussels, Munich and Washington. In January 2007 the European Commission fined Siemens €396,562,500 for its part in a gas insulated switchgear cartel that rigged bids and shared markets from 1988 to 2004, then the largest fine the Commission had imposed on a single company for one cartel. The Munich prosecutor fined the company about $285 million in October 2007.
In December 2008 Siemens AG and three subsidiaries pleaded guilty in Washington and paid $450 million in criminal fines, plus $350 million in SEC disgorgement and about $569 million more in Munich: $1.6 billion in all. The Justice Department said Siemens made about $1.36 billion in payments through cash desks and slush funds from 2001 to about 2007. In 2011 the SEC charged seven former executives over Argentina.
Roles and honours on the record
Every entry, newest first
- Admitted
Judge Richard Leon accepted Siemens' guilty plea to FCPA accounting violations, per The Washington Post. Biggest foreign bribery settlements ranked: Siemens $1.6B
- Filed
DOJ filed a sentencing memorandum asking the court to accept guilty pleas from Siemens AG and three subsidiaries. Biggest foreign bribery settlements ranked: Siemens $1.6B
Stories in this file
The record, entry by entry
- 1847 Official Werner von Siemens founded the business in Berlin, at Schöneberger Strasse 19, with roughly ten employees. Siemens Historical Institute
- 2007-01-24 Ruled The European Commission fined eleven groups €750,712,500 for a gas insulated switchgear cartel that ran from 1988 to 2004. Siemens's fine of €396,562,500 was the largest the Commission had imposed on a single company for a single cartel infringement; ABB received immunity as the first to come forward. European Commission press release IP/07/80
- 2007-10 Official Siemens paid a fine of approximately $285 million to the Office of the Prosecutor General in Munich, according to the SEC. SEC press release 2008-294
- 2008-12-15 Admitted Before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, Siemens AG pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the FCPA's internal controls and books and records provisions, and Siemens Argentina, Bangladesh and Venezuela pleaded guilty to conspiracy counts. Siemens AG agreed to a $448.5 million fine and each subsidiary to $500,000, $450 million in all. U.S. Department of Justice press release 08-1105
- 2008-12-15 Official The Justice Department said that from its NYSE listing in 2001 through about 2007, Siemens AG made payments of about $1.36 billion, of which about $805.5 million was intended in whole or in part as corrupt payments to foreign officials and about $554.5 million went for unknown purposes. U.S. Department of Justice press release 08-1105
- 2008-12-15 Ruled Siemens settled SEC charges that it bribed officials for metro lines in Venezuela, power plants in Israel, refineries in Mexico and other projects, earning more than $1.1 billion in profits. It agreed to $350 million in disgorgement, and to a fine of approximately $569 million in Munich. SEC press release 2008-294
- 2011-12-13 Filed The SEC charged seven former Siemens executives over a decade-long scheme to keep a $1 billion contract for Argentine national identity cards, alleging more than $100 million in bribes to officials including two former Argentine presidents. The Justice Department brought a parallel criminal action. SEC press release 2011-263