US fines BHP under bribery law for free Olympics trips

US securities regulators hit Australia's mining giant BHP Billiton with a $25 million penalty Wednesday for violating a bribery law by treating foreign officials to trips to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said BHP paid for travel and luxury hotel accommodations for 60 mostly African and Asian government and state enterprise officials as well as spouses to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing, violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

"BHP Billiton footed the bill for foreign government officials to attend the Olympics while they were in a position to help the company with its business or regulatory endeavors," said Andrew Ceresney, SEC enforcement division director, in a statement.

"BHP Billiton recognized that inviting government officials to the Olympics created a heightened risk of violating anti-corruption laws, yet the company failed to implement sufficient internal controls to address that heightened risk."

The SEC said the Australian company had invited a total of 176 government and state enterprise officials to attend the Olympics at its expense. The statement did not identify the persons.

Ultimately 60 took up the offer, with spouses and others joining them, and received Olympics event tickets, lodging and sightseeing trips worth $12,000 to $16,000 each, according to the SEC.

BHP agreed to the fine to settle the case without admitting or denying the findings. The SEC said the company cooperated with its probe and took efforts to correct its practices.

The SEC said the company had some controls on its hospitality spending at the time, but they were inadequate to prevent violations of the US FCPA laws, which can be applied to foreign companies which have offices or shares traded in the United States.

BHP shares, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, were down 0.29 percent to $45.83 in early trade Wednesday.