UPDATE: Regulator Fines Aon $7.9 Million For Suspicious Payments
2009年1月9日 - 2:59AM
Dow Jones News
(Includes additional information on allegations and remediation,
along with Aon response, starting second paragraph.)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
The U.K. Financial Services Authority fined an Aon Corp. (AOC)
unit a record GBP5.25 million ($7.9 million) for failing to
maintain a system to counter the risks of bribery and corruption
associated with making payments to overseas companies.
The FSA said that between January 2005 and September 2007,
reinsurer and risk-management firm Aon Ltd. made "suspicious
payments" amounting to $7 million to several overseas companies and
individuals in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Myanmar
and Vietnam.
The regulator, in imposing its largest-ever financial
crime-related fine, said the company failed to implement effective
controls to mitigate the risks involved in dealing with overseas
firms.
The FSA said Aon's payment-authorization program didn't take
into account higher levels of risk that some parts of its business
were exposed to in the countries they operated in, and didn't
provide its staff with training about the risks of bribery and
corruption. That led to weak controls over overseas payments,
giving rise to an "unacceptable risk" that Aon could make
potentially corrupt payments to win or keep business, the regulator
added.
Aon said in a statement Thursday the failings arose mainly from
its aviation and energy sectors in business in non-U.K., high-risk
sectors.
"The FSA has made it clear that Aon Ltd.'s conduct was neither
deliberate nor reckless," the company said. Since becoming aware of
the issues, the company said, it and its senior management have
been determined to remedy their systems and controls so similar
problems won't happen again.
The FSA said Aon cooperated fully and agreed to settle at an
early point in the investigation, qualifying it for a 30% discount
under the FSA's early settlement plan. Without that discount, the
fine would have been GBP7.5 million.
The FSA said Aon Ltd. and its parent have implemented a new
anti-corruption program that includes a policy limiting the use of
overseas third parties, particularly in high-risk areas. It
generally prohibits the use of third parties whose only service to
Aon is assisting in getting business through client introductions
where there is a heightened risk of corrupt practices.
The regulator added Aon's current senior management treated the
matter with "utmost seriousness" and were proactive in identifying
past issues and improving the firm's controls.
-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089;
kerry.grace@dowjones.com
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