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UK-Based Pharmaceutical Company Agrees to Pay $5.5 Million to Settle FCPA Charges with SEC
On August 30, the SEC announced a $5.5 million settlement with a U.K.-based pharmaceutical company to settle charges under the FCPA’s books and records and internal control provisions due to allegedly improper payments made by the company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries in China and Russia. In its administrative order, the SEC alleged that the Chinese subsidiaries made improper payments to doctors at state-owned healthcare providers to incentivize purchasing and prescribing the company’s pharmaceuticals. The improper payments were funded by fraudulent tax receipts, inflated travel invoices, and fabricated speaker fees. The Chinese subsidiary also allegedly made improper payments to government officials in exchange for reductions or dismissals of proposed financial sanctions against the subsidiary. Similarly, the SEC alleged that the company’s Russian subsidiary made improper payments in connection with pharmaceutical sales. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, the company agreed to disgorge $4.325 million and pay a $375,000 civil penalty with $822,000 in prejudgment interest.
The SEC’s administrative order indicates that the company waived its statute of limitations defenses. This is notable because the company’s misconduct allegedly ended in 2010, and the statute of limitations for FCPA offenses is five years.
This settlement represents another in a series of SEC investigations of the pharmaceutical industry.
Global Technology Company Settles FCPA Charges with SEC; DOJ Issues Third Declination Letter
On July 11, a Wisconsin-based global technology company agreed, pursuant to an administrative cease and desist order and without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, to pay $14.3 million to settle the SEC’s allegations that it violated the books and records and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. The charges related to actions taken by managers and employees of the company’s wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary, between 2007 and 2013, to make payments to sham vendors to effect bribes and improper payments to employees of Chinese government owned shipyards, ship-owners, and others, as well as to obtain and retain business and personally enrich the subsidiary’s employees. The company’s settlement includes a disgorgement of $11,800,000, prejudgment interest of $1,382,561, as well as a civil penalty of $1,180,000. The company also agreed to a one-year period of self-reporting to the SEC on the status of its FCPA and anti-corruption related remediation and compliance enhancements.
On the same day, the DOJ Fraud Section released a declination letter sent on June 21, 2016, to the company, in which DOJ declined prosecution of possible FCPA violations “despite the bribery by employees of [the company’s] subsidiary in China.” The DOJ letter stated that its decision is consistent with the FCPA Pilot Program , a one-year program launched in April 2016, to encourage companies “to voluntarily self-disclose FCPA-related misconduct, fully cooperate with the Fraud Section, and, where appropriate, remediate flaws in their controls and compliance programs.” DOJ determined that the company had voluntarily self-reported potential FCPA violations, conducted a thorough internal investigation, and continues to cooperate fully and remediate its internal controls.
No individuals have been charged in this matter, but DOJ noted in its declination letter that the company removed from the company all 16 employees determined to have been involved in the misconduct. The company also agreed to continue to cooperate in any ongoing investigation of individuals.
This is the third declination letter issued by the DOJ since its FCPA Pilot Program was announced it April 2016. Prior FCPA Scorecard coverage on the FCPA Pilot Program can be found here.
Nevada Casino Operator Settles FCPA Allegations with SEC
On April 7, the SEC settled FCPA allegations with a Nevada-based operator of numerous hotel, resort, and casino properties in the United States and Asia. In a cease and desist order, the SEC found that the operating company violated the FCPA’s internal controls and books and records provisions related to activities in China and Macau. The SEC order alleged that the operating company made more than $62 million in payments to a consultant in Asia, without supporting documentation or appropriate authorizations, and at times continued to make payments to the consultant without being able to account for prior transfers.
The operating company consented to the SEC’s order without admitting or denying the charges and agreed to pay a $9 million dollar penalty. In addition to the penalty, the operating company agreed to obtain an independent monitor for two years to “review its FCPA-related internal controls, recordkeeping, and financial reporting policies and procedures and its ethics and compliance functions.”
Pharmaceutical Company Settles with SEC Regarding FCPA Offenses in China
On March 23, the SEC announced that it settled FCPA allegations with a Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company, via a cease and desist order finding that the company violated the FCPA’s book and records and internal controls provisions related to activities in China. The SEC found that employees of two of the company’s Chinese subsidiaries gave money and gifts to Chinese health care providers at state-owned hospitals in order to boost sales. In some cases, the order found, the company’s employees created spreadsheets that linked payments to individual Chinese health care providers to increased sales of certain drugs and created a ranking system for the health care providers.
The SEC’s order found that the company recorded the payments as lecture fees, conferences, seminars, medical studies, and travel and entertainment. The SEC further found that the company failed to devise and implement a sufficient system of internal accounting controls to detect the improper payments, and lacked an effective anti-corruption compliance program. The order did not say whether the company self-disclosed the involved conduct, but the order notes the company’s cooperation and states that the company began an internal investigation after news reports surfaced that a competitor was investigating similar FCPA concerns in its Chinese subsidiaries.
The company consented to the SEC’s order without admitting or denying the charges and agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the case, including a $2 million penalty, disgorgement of $21.5 million in profits, and $1.5 million in prejudgment interest. The company will also provide status reports to the SEC for the next two years regarding remediation efforts and new anti-corruption compliance measures.
Telecommunications Company Settles FCPA Charges With SEC in Apparent "Sons and Daughters" Case
The SEC announced on March 1 that it settled FCPA charges with a San Diego-based mobile chip maker. The company agreed to pay a $7.5 million civil penalty to resolve charges that it violated the FCPA by hiring relatives of Chinese government officials and providing things of value to foreign officials and their family members, in an attempt to influence these officials to take actions that would assist the company in obtaining or retaining business in China.
The company and the SEC settled the case via an Administrative Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, in which the company did not admit or deny the findings set forth in the order. The order found that the company had violated the anti-bribery, internal controls, and books-and-records provisions of the FCPA. In addition to the $7.5 million civil penalty, the company agreed to provide the SEC with self-reports and certifications concerning its FCPA compliance during a two-year period.
According to the order, the company both offered and provided employment and paid internships to family members of Chinese foreign officials in order to try to obtain business. Many of these hires were referred to internally at the company as “must place” or “special” hires and did not satisfy the company’s internal hiring standards. The order also details the company’s provision of meals, gifts, travel, and entertainment to both foreign officials and relatives of foreign officials in an effort to influence these officials to use the company’s technology.
The settlement appears to be an extension of the SEC’s “Sons and Daughters” investigations which, up until now, have been focused on the hiring practices of financial institutions in the Asia Pacific. Prior coverage of other aspects of the “Sons and Daughters” investigations around the world is available here.
California-Based Pharmaceutical Company Settles with SEC Regarding FCPA Offenses in China
On February 4, the SEC settled FCPA allegations with a California-based pharmaceutical company with a cease and desist order finding that the company violated the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions related to activities in China. The SEC found that from at least 2007 to 2012, employees of the company’s subsidiaries gave money and gifts to Chinese officials (including employees of state-owned hospitals) in order to boost sales. The SEC further found that the company failed to devise and implement a sufficient system of internal accounting controls and lacked an effective anti-corruption compliance program.
The company consented to the SEC’s order without admitting or denying the charges and agreed to pay $12.8 million to resolve the charges, including a $2.5 million penalty, the disgorgement of $9.426 million in profits, and $900,000 in prejudgment interest. The company will also provide status reports to the SEC for the next three years regarding remediation efforts and new anti-corruption compliance measures. The company simultaneously announced that the DOJ had declined to pursue any additional action.
FinCEN Announces MOU with China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center
On December 11, FinCEN announced that Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery and the China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center (CAMLMAC) Director-General Luo Yang of the People’s Republic of China signed an MOU “to create a framework to facilitate expanded U.S.-China collaboration, communication, and cooperation between both nations’ financial intelligence units.” As the financial intelligence unit (FIU) for the United States, FinCEN is responsible for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating financial intelligence to law enforcement and other relevant authorities; as the Chinese counterpart to FinCEN, the CAMLMAC has comparable responsibilities to the Chinese government. The recently announced MOU is intended to provide a “mechanism for sharing information on money laundering and the financing of terrorism in order to prevent illicit actors from abusing either country’s financial systems.”
Bristol-Myers Squibb Pays $14 Million to SEC to Resolve China FCPA Offenses
On October 5, the SEC announced a settlement with Bristol-Myers Squibb to resolve allegations that the pharmaceutical company’s Chinese joint venture, BMS China, gave cash, jewelry, and other benefits to health care providers in order to boost prescription sales at state-owned or controlled hospitals. The SEC proceeded via an administrative cease and desist order. The SEC’s order found that the company violated the internal controls and books and records provisions of the FCPA. Bristol-Myers consented to the SEC’s order without admitting or denying the findings, and agreed to disgorge profits of $11.4 million plus $500,000 in pre-judgment interest and pay a civil penalty of $2.75 million. Bristol-Myers also agreed to report to the SEC for two years regarding the status of its efforts to implement anti-corruption compliance controls.
The SEC’s order states that Bristol-Myers failed to investigate red flags and claims by terminated BMS China employees that raised the possibility that sales personnel were making improper payments. The order also states that Bristol-Myers was too slow to fill gaps in its internal controls regarding interactions with health care providers.
SEC Penalizes Investment Adviser over Inadequate Cyber-Risk Program Prior to Data Breach
On September 22, the SEC ordered a Missouri-based investment adviser to pay a $75,000 penalty, settling allegations that the investment adviser failed to implement required written cybersecurity policies and procedures prior to a data breach affecting the firm’s clients. According to the SEC, in July 2013, the investment adviser’s third party-hosted web server was hacked by a then unknown source compromising the personally identifiable information of more than 100,000 individuals. Subsequent investigations determined that the breach originated in China, and, to date, the firm’s clients have suffered no financial injury. In addition to the $75,000 penalty, the firm was censured and agreed to cease and desist from committing or causing any future violations of the Safeguards Rule.
To coincide with the announcement, the SEC also issued an Investor Alert, “Identity Theft, Data Breaches, and Your Investment Accounts,” which provides actions retail investors can take to protect their investment accounts in the event of a data breach or identity theft.
PetroChina Class Action Dismissed
On August 3, a federal district court in New York dismissed with prejudice a securities class action suit filed against Chinese oil and gas company PetroChina Co. Ltd. The suit alleged that statements in the company’s 2011 and 2012 financial statements claiming the company was in compliance with its internal rules and securities regulations were false or misleading. The plaintiffs filed the suit after the Chinese government announced that it was investigating four of the company’s top executives for corruption.
The court dismissed the complaint in its entirety, finding that the plaintiffs failed to allege any acts of bribery or corruption that predated the filing of the 2011 and 2012 financial statements. The court wrote: “[T]his Court is not requiring that Plaintiffs allege a detailed account of the particular illicit deals that PetroChina officials were allegedly engaged in. Plaintiffs are required, nonetheless, to establish—at a bare minimum—that the underlying fraud took place during the time period covered by the purportedly false public statements and that someone at PetroChina knew or had reason to know about it.”
Similar class action suits against Wal-Mart and Avon have also been dismissed in the past year.