Shares of Oracle Corp. ORCL, -0.02% rose 1.2% in morning trading Tuesday, after the Securities and Exchange Commission said the enterprise software company will pay more than $23 million to settle bribery charges. The SEC had charged Oracle for violating provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), saying subsidiaries in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India created and used slush funds to bribe foreign officials in return for business between 2016 and 2019. As part of the settlement, Oracle agreed to “cease and desist” from violating the FCPA without admitting and denying the SEC’s findings. The payment includes $8 million in disgorgement and a $15 million penalty. Oracle’s stock has dropped 26.4% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.95% has lost 22.3%.
