Ericsson Expects to Pay $1 Billion in U.S. Corruption Probes
- Investigations by SEC, DOJ involve ethics breaches overseas
- CEO Ekholm says compliance program wasn’t ‘fit for purpose’
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Ericsson AB said it expects to pay $1 billion to resolve investigations by U.S. authorities into business ethics breaches in six countries, including China, in one of the costliest corruption cases on record.
The Sweden-based telecommunications equipment maker said in a statement Thursday it has made a provision of 12 billion kronor ($1.2 billion) to cover the penalty, and this will dent third-quarter earnings. Ericsson said it can’t comment on details of the process with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice.