SEC dropping bribery case against former Cognizant executives

The US Securities and Exchange Commission moved to dismiss a long-running bribery case against two former executives of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., the latest sign of the Trump administration’s shift away from enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 

The regulator and the two former executives — Gordon Coburn and Steven Schwartz — filed a joint motion Tuesday in New Jersey federal court to drop the case. The filing calls for dismissing the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled. 

The SEC’s decision to seek dismissal of this action “does not necessarily reflect the commission’s position on any other case,” the agency said.

A federal judge in New Jersey in April tossed criminal charges against the duo. Alina Habba, the interim US Attorney for New Jersey, requested the move after President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for a pause to FCPA enforcement.

US prosecutors in 2019 charged Coburn, the company’s former president, and Schwartz, its former chief legal officer, with authorizing $2 million in illegal payments to secure a permit for a new office in India. The pair disguised the payments by funneling them through a construction company, authorities said.

Cognizant in 2019 paid $25 million to settle SEC claims that the company violated anti-bribery laws. The SEC also filed a civil lawsuit against the former executives.

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Published on July 16, 2025