Biopharmaceutical-company AstraZeneca this week reached a $5.5 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle claims that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by making improper payments to state-controlled health care providers in China and Russia.
According to the SEC’s order, the proceeding arose out of violations of the internal controls and record-keeping provisions of the FCPA by AstraZeneca and its wholly-owned subsidiaries in China and Russia. Through at least 2010, AstraZeneca failed to devise and maintain a sufficient system of internal accounting controls relating to the interactions of its China and Russia subsidiaries with government officials, the vast majority of whom were health care providers (HCPs), at state-owned and state-controlled entities in China and Russia, the order stated.
