Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: Joan McKown Represents Goodyear in Settlement with SEC

Joan McKown of Jones Day represented Goodyear in a reported settlement of more than $16 million dollars related to charges brought by the SEC. The charges stem from the company’s violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when its subsidiaries paid bribes to land tire sales in Kenya and Angola. Here is the SEC press release. The SEC claimed that Goodyear failed to prevent the payment of 3.2 million in bribes during a four-year period that were improperly recorded in their accounting records as legitimate business expenses. The settlement requires the company to report its FCPA remediation efforts to the SEC for a three-year period.   It has been reported that Goodyear self-reported the violations and that the DOJ declined filing criminal charges.

Prior to joining Jones Day as a partner in 2010, Joan McKown spent 24 years working for the SEC and left in 2010 as longtime Chief Counsel of the Division of Enforcement. She lectures extensively on SEC matters and not surprisingly focuses her practice on representing clients and companies before the SEC. McKown clearly drew on her experience, knowledge, and advocacy to reach this favorable outcome for her client. Without question we are lucky to have her on the defense side of the table.