Legg Mason Charged With Violating the FCPA

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Legg Mason Inc. will pay over $34 million to resolve an SEC charge that the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in a scheme to bribe Libyan government officials. According to the SEC’s order, between 2004 and 2010, a former Legg Mason asset management subsidiary, Permal Group Inc., partnered with a French financial services company to solicit investment business from Libyan state-owned financial institutions. These entities engaged in a scheme to pay bribes to Libyan government officials through a Libyan middleman in order to secure investments. As a result of the corrupt scheme, Legg Mason, through its Permal subsidiary, was awarded business tied to $1 billion of investments for the Libyan financial institutions, earning net revenues of approximately $31.6 million.