This is to inform you that Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) today announced it has resolved the previously disclosed investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) into whether payments relating to permits and licenses for certain real estate facilities in India violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and other applicable laws. This resolves all of the DOJ and SEC investigations into the Company concerning this matter.
“We are pleased to reach these resolutions with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. With today’s announcements, we’ve taken a major step forward in putting this behind us,” said Francisco D’Souza, Vice Chairman and CEO of Cognizant. “Further, we are gratified that both the DOJ and SEC recognized that we voluntarily and promptly notified U.S. authorities of the potential issues in India more than two years ago, and cooperated extensively with their investigations. We undertook a comprehensive internal investigation under the oversight of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, with the assistance of outside counsel. We have also made further enhancements to our compliance processes, procedures and resources. It is important to note that this entire matter did not involve our work with clients or affect our ability to provide the quality services our clients expect from us.”
The Company settled with the SEC by consenting to the entry of an administrative order. In total, the resolutions require the Company to pay approximately $28 million to the DOJ and SEC. This amount is consistent with the accrual previously recorded by the Company.
Citing the Company’s voluntary and prompt self-reporting, comprehensive investigation, compliance enhancements, and significant cooperation, the DOJ declined to take any further action against the company.