DOJ Juniper Probe Causes Shares Drop
DOJ Juniper Probe Causes Shares Drop by UCStrategies Staff
Juniper Networks recently noted a five percent drop in shares after reporting that it was being investigated for possible violations of U.S. foreign business practices.
The company revealed this information in a 10-K form filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice are investigating.
The company stated that it is “cooperating” with the investigations, and was “unable to predict the duration, scope or outcome of these investigations.”
Department of Justice documentation states that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is significant in preventing corruption, including bribery, within international business. The Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act reads: “When business is won or lost based on how much a company is willing to pay in bribes rather than on the quality of its products and services, law-abiding companies are placed at a competitive disadvantage -- and consumers lose.”
The research director at Gartner who is concerned with networking and service provider space, Akshay Sharma, commented that Sunnyvale, California-based Juniper will be “hurt” by the drop in stock. He also noted that these probes are quite common in the tech world.
Sharma said: “[Juniper’s] stock went down 5.7 percent, so that hurts. But, I mean, Oracle agreed last year to pay $2 million for something similar, IBM agreed to pay $10 million for stuff in South Korea and China. I don't know the details, but, unfortunately, it is the way business is done in some countries.” (CY) Link