Last week Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that the Justice Department has decided to prosecute the company for a criminal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The news was tucked away in a Form 10-Q, which BSM had filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 27. It stated in part, “The company has also been advised by the Department of Justice that it has closed its inquiry into this matter.”
Earlier in October the SEC had announced an FCPA enforcement against the company for the actions of BSM’s joint venture in China, which made cash payments and provided other benefits to healthcare providers at state-owned and state-controlled hospitals in exchange for prescription sales. The matter was settled through a SEC administrative proceeding, which granted an agreed-upon cease and desist order, based upon a BSM’s settlement offer that the SEC accepted.
