COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Contingent liabilities associated with guarantees - In the ordinary course of business, we enter into standby letters of credit, performance bonds, surety bonds, and other guarantees with financial institutions for the benefit of our customers, vendors, and other parties. The majority of these financial instruments expire within five years. Management does not expect any of these financial instruments to result in losses that, if incurred, would have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Guarantees made by our consolidated subsidiaries consisted of the following:


(In millions)	December 31, 2021
Financial guarantees (a)	$	177.4
Performance guarantees (b)	1,069.0
Maximum potential undiscounted payments	$	1,246.4

(a)Financial guarantees represent contracts that contingently require a guarantor to make payments to a guaranteed party based on changes in an underlying agreement that is related to an asset, a liability or an equity security of the guaranteed party. These tend to be drawn down only if there is a failure to fulfill our financial obligations.

(b)Performance guarantees represent contracts that contingently require a guarantor to make payments to a guaranteed party based on another entity's failure to perform under a nonfinancial obligating agreement. Events that trigger payment are performance-related, such as failure to ship a product or provide a service.

We believe the ultimate resolution of our known contingencies will not materially adversely affect our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Contingent liabilities associated with legal and tax matters - We are involved in various pending or potential legal and tax actions or disputes in the ordinary course of our business. These actions and disputes can involve our agents, suppliers, clients, and venture partners, and can include claims related to payment of fees, service quality, and ownership arrangements, including certain put or call options. We are unable to predict the ultimate outcome of these actions because of their inherent uncertainty. However, we believe that the most probable, ultimate resolution of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

On March 28, 2016, FMC Technologies received an inquiry from the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) related to the DOJ's investigation of whether certain services Unaoil S.A.M. provided to its clients, including FMC Technologies, violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). On March 29, 2016, Technip S.A. also received an inquiry from the DOJ related to Unaoil. We cooperated with the DOJ's investigations and, with regard to FMC Technologies, a related investigation by the SEC.

In late 2016, Technip S.A. was contacted by the DOJ regarding its investigation of offshore platform projects awarded between 2003 and 2007, performed in Brazil by a joint venture company in which Technip S.A. was a minority participant, and we have also raised with the DOJ certain other projects performed by Technip S.A. subsidiaries in Brazil between 2002 and 2013. The DOJ has also inquired about projects in Ghana and Equatorial Guinea that were awarded to Technip S.A. subsidiaries in 2008 and 2009, respectively. We cooperated with the DOJ in its investigation into potential violations of the FCPA in connection with these projects. We contacted and cooperated with the Brazilian authorities (Federal Prosecution Service (“MPF”), the Comptroller General of Brazil (“CGU”) and the Attorney General of Brazil (“AGU”)) with their investigation concerning the projects in Brazil and have also contacted and are cooperating with French authorities (the Parquet National Financier (“PNF”)) with their investigation about these existing matters.

On June 25, 2019, we announced a global resolution to pay a total of $301.3 million to the DOJ, the SEC, the MPF, and the CGU/AGU to resolve these anti-corruption investigations. We will not be required to have a monitor and will, instead, provide reports on our anti-corruption program to the Brazilian and U.S. authorities for two and three years, respectively.

As part of this resolution, we entered into a three-year Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”) with the DOJ related to charges of conspiracy to violate the FCPA related to conduct in Brazil and with Unaoil. In addition, Technip USA, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA related to conduct in Brazil. We will also provide the DOJ reports on our anti-corruption program during the term of the DPA.

In Brazil, our subsidiaries Technip Brasil - Engenharia, Instalações E Apoio Marítimo Ltda. and Flexibrás Tubos Flexíveis Ltda. entered into leniency agreements with both the MPF and the CGU/AGU. We have committed, as part of those agreements, to make certain enhancements to their compliance programs in Brazil during a two-year self-reporting period, which aligns with our commitment to cooperation and transparency with the compliance community in Brazil and globally.

In September 2019, the SEC approved our previously disclosed agreement in principle with the SEC Staff and issued an Administrative Order, pursuant to which we paid the SEC $5.1 million, which was included in the global resolution of $301.3 million.

To date, the investigation by PNF related to historical projects in Equatorial Guinea and Ghana has not reached resolution. We remain committed to finding a resolution with the PNF and will maintain a $70.0 million provision related to this investigation. Additionally, the PNF recently informed us that it is reviewing other historical projects in Angola. We are not aware of any evidence that would support a finding of liability with respect to these projects, whether the PNF would seek to impose any additional penalty. As we continue our discussions with PNF towards a potential resolution of all of these matters, the amount of a settlement could exceed this provision.

There is no certainty that a settlement with PNF will be reached or that the settlement will not exceed current accruals. The PNF has a broad range of potential sanctions under anticorruption laws and regulations that it may seek to impose in appropriate circumstances including, but not limited to, fines, penalties, confiscations and modifications to business practices and compliance programs. Any of these measures, if applicable to us, as well as potential customer reaction to such measures, could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. If we cannot reach a resolution with the PNF, we could be subject to criminal proceedings in France, the outcome of which cannot be predicted.

Contingent liabilities associated with liquidated damages - Some of our contracts contain provisions that require us to pay liquidated damages if we are responsible for the failure to meet specified contractual milestone dates and the applicable customer asserts a conforming claim under these provisions. These contracts define the conditions under which our customers may make claims against us for liquidated damages. Based upon the evaluation of our performance and other commercial and legal analysis, management believes we have appropriately recognized probable liquidated damages as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and that the ultimate resolution of such matters will not materially affect our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.