Ericsson Shareholders Further Rebuke Leadership After Corruption Probe
30 March 2023 - 08:18PM
Dow Jones News
By Dominic Chopping
STOCKHOLM--Ericsson AB shareholders again used the company's
annual general meeting to air their discontent at the company's
handling of a probe into allegations of corruption in Iraq.
The Swedish telecommunications equipment maker came under
pressure last year after it disclosed that an internal
investigation had found evidence of historical corruption in Iraq.
It was recently fined around $207 million by the U.S. Justice
Department for the company's failure to properly disclose the 2019
investigation that left the company unable to determine if certain
payments in the country fell into the hands of terror
organizations.
The fine followed a $1 billion payment that Ericsson made to
settle a U.S. corruption investigation amid charges of bribery and
accounting violations in China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia and Vietnam.
At Wednesday's meeting, shareholders representing at least 10%
of Ericsson shares voted against discharging most of the board and
president from liability for the 2022 financial year, opening Chief
Executive Borje Ekholm and the rest of the board to potentially be
held personally liable for their actions.
Under Swedish law, if at least 10% of shareholders vote against
discharging the board from liability with respect to their
management, they can be sued by the company and its investors.
Shareholders also denied discharge of liability last year.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 30, 2023 05:03 ET (09:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024