3M disclosed in a quarterly filing that it is conducting an “internal investigation” into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

“The company, through its internal processes, discovered certain travel activities and related funding and recordkeeping issues raising concerns,” 3M said in a Form 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those concerns arose from “marketing efforts by certain business groups based in China,” the company said.

In a July 26 quarterly filing, the industrial, consumer, and healthcare products company said it “has retained outside counsel and a forensic accounting firm to help with the investigation,” without disclosing the names of those firms.

3M said it disclosed the investigation on July 23 to the Department of Justice and the SEC.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal, enforcement, technology, and more.

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