Deere Faces Bribery Allegations

According to The Wall Street Journal, Deere & Co., is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for possible violations of the foreign bribery law.

The company received an inquiry from regulators last month regarding payments made in Russia and nearby countries, according to the article. The probe is looking at whether the payments fell afoul of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that bars companies from paying bribes to foreign officials.

Deere said in a statement that the company received a voluntary request from the SEC on July 25 to produce documents relating to Deere’s activities, as well as those of third parties, in “certain foreign countries.”

“The SEC has informed Deere that this is a non-public fact-finding inquiry to determine whether there have been any violations of the federal securities laws, and that the inquiry and document request do not mean that the SEC has concluded that Deere has broken the law,” the statement said. ◆