Ericsson began three years of compliance monitoring, appointing a third party to ensure adherence to the terms of a settlement in a bribery case brought by US authorities.

The company tasked Andreas Pohlmann of compliance-focused legal consultancy Pohlmann & Company with evaluating implementation of a new compliance system and recommend improvements.

Ericsson agreed to deploy the system as part of a wide-ranging settlement reached with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in December 2019 following a bribery probe.

The vendor agreed to pay fines totalling $1.1 billion as part of the deal, with the DoJ committing to dismissing the bribery charges following three years of compliance monitoring.

During this time, Ericsson must implement internal accounting controls and asset checks to ensure accurate bookkeeping; and a thorough anti-corruption programme including policies, procedures and training to deter violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Pohlmann has 120 days to begin an initial review of the company’s operations, after which he must issue an initial report covering recommendations on potential improvements within 180 days.

Ericsson will then have 180 days to implement or dispute the recommendations.