Cisco's Russian unit faces SEC, Justice Department bribery investigation

Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) said it is complying with a request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that its Russian unit has engaged in bribery, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The vendor said U.S. regulators and the company had received allegations that business activities of some of its operations and resellers in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States may have violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. 

"The company takes any such allegations very seriously and is fully cooperating with and sharing the results of its investigation with the Commission and the Department," Cisco wrote in a Feb. 20 filing.

These allegations first came to light in a blog post written by the company's vice president of compliance systems division, Roxane Marenberg, on Dec. 23. 

Marenberg wrote that Cisco had found "no basis to believe that Cisco's activities are in violation of any law, and indeed the information we were provided does not allege wrongdoing by any of Cisco's executive management."

Cisco said it does not think the bribery investigation would have a "material adverse" impact on its finances because Russia and the surrounding countries contribute less than 2 percent of its overall revenue.

For more:
- The Wall Street Journal has this article (sub. req.)
- and this blog post

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