Fluor pays $14.5 million to settle SEC probe over improper accounting

Image: Fluor

Texas-based engineering and construction company Fluor is to pay $14.5 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe into improper accounting.

Fluor said the investigation related to its accounting on two lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction contracts, although it did not reveal which contracts were involved.

It added that it was settling the matter by paying a civil penalty while “neither admitting nor denying the SEC’s findings”.

In a statement, Fluor said, “The SEC’s investigation concerned two projects that are now largely completed and involved historical transactions that the company restated in September 2020.

“As noted in the [administrative] order, the company fully cooperated with the SEC in its investigation and has undertaken remedial steps.

“The SEC settlement follows the previous announcement that the US Department of Justice has ended its investigation into the company.”

Fluor added that the accounting errors concerned accounting errors on “legacy risk projects and associated internal control weaknesses that were remedied in connection with the filing of our 2019 10-K in September 2020”.

It said it had since refreshed its board and broad in a new management team to drive a balanced risk profile and “healthy backlog”.