Oracle Pays $2 Million in Settlement With the SEC

by The Compliance Exchange on August 17, 2012

Oracle Corp. paid $2 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission accusations that an Indian subsidiary of the company violated U.S. laws designed to prevent bribery overseas.

The SEC said the business-software company failed to prevent Oracle India Private Ltd. from secretly setting aside money that eventually was used to make unauthorized payments to vendors in India. The unauthorized funds, which existed from 2005 to 2007, amounted to about $2.2 million, the SEC said Thursday.

The agency said the existence of the account, which was separate from the subsidiary’s books, constituted a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.