Home / Issues / Ericsson's 2019 FCPA resolution and its 2023 guilty plea for breaching the deferred prosecution agreement
Ericsson's 2019 FCPA resolution and its 2023 guilty plea for breaching the deferred prosecution agreement
Decidedas of 31 Oct 2026United StatesTelefonaktiebolaget LM EricssonEricsson Egypt Ltd.draft
Current status
Confirmed fact · as of 6 Dec 2019
The 2019 resolution combined a DOJ DEFERRED PROSECUTION AGREEMENT with the parent company (criminal penalty USD 520m) and a separate SEC settlement (disgorgement and interest over USD 539m); a subsidiary, Ericsson Egypt Ltd., pleaded GUILTY at that stage.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Ericsson Agrees to Pay Over $1 Billion to Resolve FCPA Case (6 Dec 2019) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Press Release 2019-254: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Charged With FCPA Violations (6 Dec 2019) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Confirmed fact · as of 2 Mar 2023
In March 2023 the parent company itself pleaded GUILTY to the previously deferred charges after the DOJ found it had breached the DPA, and paid an additional USD 206,728,848; the 2023 resolution contained no new FCPA allegations.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Ericsson Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Pay More Than $206M Following Breaches of 2019 FCPA Deferred Prosecution Agreement (2 Mar 2023) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · B Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, US Department of Justice resolves 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement breaches with Ericsson (2 Mar 2023) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Superseding event · 2 Mar 2023
The 2019 deferred prosecution agreement did not end Ericsson's exposure: the 2023 guilty plea and additional penalty superseded it after the DOJ found the DPA breached.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Ericsson Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Pay More Than $206M Following Breaches of 2019 FCPA Deferred Prosecution Agreement (2 Mar 2023) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Last reviewed 31 Oct 2026. An initial allegation is not the final event; this block is always shown.
How it unfolded
Issue raised · 6 Dec 2019
Proposition: US authorities alleged that Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, through subsidiaries and third-party agents, paid bribes, created off-the-books slush funds and falsified books and records in several countries between 2000 and 2016, in violation of the anti-bribery, books-and-records and internal-accounting-controls provisions of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Affected parties: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Ericsson Egypt Ltd., U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Originating record: A U.S. Department of Justice, Ericsson Agrees to Pay Over $1 Billion to Resolve FCPA Case (6 Dec 2019) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Response · Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson · 2 Mar 2023
Attributed claim · as of 2 Mar 2023
Ericsson said the US Department of Justice had resolved the breaches of its 2019 deferred prosecution agreement, that it had entered a guilty plea for the FCPA violations it had already admitted in 2019, and that there were no new allegations of FCPA violations in the resolution. The company said the breaches concerned the timeliness and completeness of its disclosures, including about a 2019 Iraq-related internal investigation. — Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
B Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, US Department of Justice resolves 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement breaches with Ericsson (2 Mar 2023) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Outcome · U.S. Department of Justice; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York) · 6 Dec 2019
settlementbinding
Confirmed fact · as of 2 Mar 2023
Recorded precisely by forum. (1) 2019 resolution, announced 6 December 2019: Ericsson entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ, agreeing to a criminal penalty of USD 520,000,000, and settled SEC charges by agreeing to pay more than USD 539,000,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, a combined total of about USD 1.06 billion. The DPA had a three-year term and required an independent compliance monitor. Ericsson's subsidiary Ericsson Egypt Ltd. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA's anti-bribery provisions. The conduct the authorities described spanned Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kuwait and other markets. (2) 2023 breach resolution, announced 2 March 2023: the DOJ determined Ericsson had breached the 2019 DPA by failing to disclose factual information in a timely way; Ericsson pleaded guilty to the originally deferred charges and agreed to pay an additional criminal penalty of USD 206,728,848.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Ericsson Agrees to Pay Over $1 Billion to Resolve FCPA Case (6 Dec 2019) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Press Release 2019-254: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Charged With FCPA Violations (6 Dec 2019) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · A U.S. Department of Justice, Ericsson Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Pay More Than $206M Following Breaches of 2019 FCPA Deferred Prosecution Agreement (2 Mar 2023) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Remedy: A USD 520m DOJ criminal penalty and more than USD 539m in SEC disgorgement and prejudgment interest (2019); a guilty plea by Ericsson Egypt Ltd. (2019); an additional USD 206,728,848 criminal penalty and a guilty plea by the parent company following the DPA breach (2023); an independent compliance monitor.
Appeal/review: concluded — The 2019 DPA ended with the 2023 guilty plea; the matter proceeded to the entry of the plea rather than to a contested trial. A U.S. Department of Justice, Ericsson Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Pay More Than $206M Following Breaches of 2019 FCPA Deferred Prosecution Agreement (2 Mar 2023) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
How to read this. Allegation, response and outcome are separate, dated records. "Decided/resolved" appears only where a cited outcome supports it. Materially affected parties can request a correction via Corrections & response.