For companies looking to get out of the crosshairs of Department of Justice by agreeing to a deferred prosecution agreement, the appointment of a corporate monitor has become a familiar condition, particularly in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases.
Now, in a sign of its own growing anti-corruption efforts, the United Kingdom has been getting into the monitor game. Hughes Hubbard & Reed announced May 12 that partner Kevin Abikoff has been hired by Innospec Inc. to act as compliance monitor as part of a $40.2 million bribery settlement it reached in March 2010 with the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.K. Serious Fraud Office. Innospec pleaded guilty to federal charges related to alleged kickbacks to the Iraqi government in the U.N. oil-for-food program and for violating the U.S. embargo with Cuba.
