Ericsson confirmed that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened an investigation concerning the matters described in the company’s 2019 Iraq investigation report.
The Sweden-based telecom equipment maker said it was cooperating with the U.S. securities regulator and it was early to determine or predict the outcome of the investigation.
Ericsson disclosed in February that an internal investigation had found it may have made payments to the Islamic State militant group in Iraq – misconduct it said started at least back in 2011.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), which fined Ericsson in 2019 over the settlement of another bribery case, is also investigating the company’s handling of the investigation and is expected to fine the company.
As part of that settlement Ericsson had agreed to engage an independent compliance monitor for a period of three years.
“In these cases it is not uncommon for multiple branches of the U.S. authorities to become involved and this is not something that we would expect to significantly change any final penalty and/or settlement,” according to Mads Rosendal, an analyst at Danske Bank Credit Research
