The SEC recently announced that a global Dutch manufacturer of health technology products agreed to pay more than $62 million to settle claims that it allegedly violated the FCPA with respect to the sale of medical diagnostic equipment in China. According to the SEC’s order, between 2014 and 2019, the manufacturer’s agents in China “engaged in improper conduct to influence foreign officials in connection with tender specifications in certain public tenders to increase the likelihood that [the manufacturer’s] products were selected.” Certain agents also allegedly engaged in a variety of improper bidding practices that unjustly enriched the manufacturer by $41 million. Special pricing discounts were given to distributors, which created a corruption risk that the increased distributor margins could be used to fund improper payments to government-owned hospital employees, the SEC claimed. During this time, the SEC found that the manufacturer lacked sufficient internal accounting controls to prevent and detect the conduct, and allegedly failed “to provide reasonable assurances” that transactions were accurately recorded in the Chinese agents’ books and records, which were consolidated into the manufacturer’s books and records.
The SEC stated that the manufacturer was previously charged with similar misconduct in Poland between 1999 and 2007, and that despite taking remedial efforts, the manufacturer failed to implement sufficient internal accounting controls relating to its sales of health technology products in China. The manufacturer consented to the SEC’s order without admitting or denying allegations that it violated the books and records and internal accounting control provisions of the Securities Exchange Act and agreed to pay $15 million in civil penalties and more than $47 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. The SEC recognized the company’s cooperation and remedial efforts.
