Empire of Ink
by Bradley Hope
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SICPA, which makes special ink for currencies, is one of the most secretive companies we’ve heard of. Owned and controlled by the founding family, SICPA stays quiet about its globe-spanning operations.
By Soobin Kim
About a year ago, we wrote about a mysterious Swiss company called SICPA, whose flagship product is something ubiquitous yet never talked-about – color-shifting ink used in printing money to prevent counterfeiting.
It’s still one of the most secretive companies we’ve heard of. Owned and controlled by the founding family, SICPA stays quiet about its globe-spanning operations. With 3000 employees in 35 countries, it’s been consistently suspected of corruption around the world but has managed to avoid any serious legal trouble. The company denies any wrongdoing.
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But that all changed last month, when the Swiss Attorney General ordered SICPA to pay a total of 81 million Swiss francs – about $91 million – for corporate criminal liability over bribery in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.
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