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By Supantha Mukherjee<\/strong>
STOCKHOLM<\/a>: Investors are set to publicly rebuke Ericsson<\/a> Chief Executive Borje Ekholm<\/a> over a scandal involving potential payments to Islamic State in a vote on Tuesday.
Ekholm<\/a>'s handling of an internal probe into Ericsson's operations in Iraq has come under scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said the company was in breach of a 2019 deferred prosecution agreement for failing to inform U.S. authorities of potential misconduct it had uncovered there.
The risk of a hefty fine for that breach has shaved a quarter off Ericsson's market cap and angered investors who were not given any information about the company probe until media inquiries about it earlier this year.
At Ericsson's annual general meeting, shareholders will, among other things, vote on whether Ekholm and other board members could be personally liable for their actions.
Under Swedish law, if board members are not discharged of their liabilities for the previous year by shareholders owning at least 10% of the stock they can be sued by the company and its investors.
Based on the responses of shareholders contacted by Reuters, the votes will pass the 10% threshold.
While losing the vote may not mean Ekholm has to step down, it will raise further questions over his stewardship of the group.
Ekholm, the company's chief financial offcer Carl Mellander and Ericsson have been named as defendants in a U.S. class action lawsuit for misleading investors over its dealings in Iraq.
In 2014, a scandal over business dealings in Uzbekistan of telecoms company Telia Company, then called TeliaSonera, led shareholders to vote against discharging former CEO Lars Nyberg from personal liability in 2014.
Nyberg was later charged with bribery, but was acquitted by a Swedish court.
Transparency<\/strong>
Ekholm took the helm at Ericsson in 2016 after a string of poor results and when the company was under investigation by U.S. authorities over bribery allegations.
Backed by top shareholder Investor AB, Ekholm revived the company's performance and paid a $1 billion fine to the DoJ to settle bribery cases in several countries.
In the same year, a company probe into its operations in Iraq identified payments designed to circumvent customs at a time when militant organizations, including Islamic State, controlled some routes.
While Ekholm has been fostering transparency and urging employees to speak up about improprieties, the company did not disclose details of the new probe to shareholders.
Ekholm told Reuters in February the substance of its findings did not pass the threshold to make a disclosure.
Last week he told investors that he had instructed his staff to disclose the investigation to the authorities. The company replaced Chief Legal Officer Xavier Dedullen, who handled the settlement in 2019, earlier this month.
Cevian, which owns just under 5% of Ericsson shares, said it would have to vote against discharging board members of their liabilities because it did not have enough information to do otherwise. But it still plans to support their re-election.
\"Cevian remains convinced of the strength and potential of Ericsson and its businesses,\" it said. \"Overall, we have confidence that the board and the CEO are capable of realizing that potential, and we will be voting for their re-election.\"
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爱立信首席执行官面临投资者的愤怒在处理伊拉克的调查
Ekholm爱立信的内部调查的处理操作在伊拉克受到审查在美国司法部(DoJ)表示,该公司是在2019年违反暂缓起诉协议未能通知美国当局潜在不当行为的发现了。
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由Supantha穆克吉
斯德哥尔摩:投资者将公开谴责爱立信首席执行官Borje Ekholm在丑闻可能支付在周二投票的伊斯兰国家。
Ekholm的内部调查处理爱立信在伊拉克的行动受到审查在美国司法部(DoJ)表示,该公司是在2019年违反暂缓起诉协议未能通知美国当局潜在不当行为的发现了。
巨额罚款的风险,违反了四分之一爱立信的市值和愤怒的投资者并没有给出任何关于公司的信息调查,直到今年早些时候媒体询问。
在爱立信的年度股东大会上,股东将,除此之外,投票决定是否Ekholm和其他董事会成员可能会为自己的行为承担个人责任。
根据瑞典法律,如果董事会成员不出院前一年的负债由股东持有至少10%的股票可以被起诉的公司及其投资者。
基于股东的回应路透社的采访,选票将超过阈值的10%。
虽然失去投票并不意味着Ekholm已经下台,这将加深他的管理问题。
Ekholm,该公司首席财务税务局官员卡尔melland和爱立信已被列为被告在美国集体诉讼误导投资者对其在伊拉克的交易。
2014年,一个商业交易丑闻在乌兹别克斯坦电信公司Telia公司,然后叫TeliaSonera,导致股东投票反对卸货前首席执行官Lars Nyberg从2014年的个人责任。
尼伯格后来被控受贿,但瑞典法院被判无罪。
透明度
Ekholm掌舵爱立信2016年一连串糟糕的业绩,当公司因涉嫌受贿被美国当局正在调查。
支持的最大股东投资者AB, Ekholm复兴公司的性能和支付10亿美元的罚款,在若干国家司法部解决贿赂案件。
同年,公司调查其在伊拉克发现支付为了规避海关时激进组织,包括伊斯兰国家,某些线路控制。
尽管Ekholm促进透明度和敦促员工说话不当行为,该公司没有透露新调查的细节给股东。
Ekholm告诉路透社2月发现的物质没有通过阈值作出披露。
上周他告诉投资者,他要求他的员工披露调查当局。公司首席法律官Xavier Dedullen取代,本月早些时候在2019年处理解决。
Cevian,拥有不到5%的爱立信股份,说它会投票反对卸货董事会成员的责任,因为它没有足够的信息来做。但它仍然支持他们连任的计划。
“Cevian仍相信爱立信和它的力量和潜力的企业,”它说。“总的来说,我们有信心,董事会和首席执行官能够意识到潜在的,和我们将投票选举。”
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