In the Matter of AstraZeneca PLC (2016) 

• Case Name
• In the Matter of AstraZeneca PLC (2016) 

• Date Filed
• 08/30/2016

• Enforcement Agency
• SEC

• Countries
• China, Russia

• Foreign Official
• Unnamed government officials, including health care providers at state-owned and state-controlled entities in China and Russia.

• Date of Conduct
• 2005 to 2010

• Nature of Business
• AstraZeneca PLC is a global bio-pharmaceutical company based in the United Kingdom with operations around the world, including China and Russia.  Throughout the relevant period, AstraZeneca maintained a class of American Depository Shares that were registered with the SEC and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

• Influence to be Obtained
• According to the SEC, between 2005 and 2010, AstraZeneca’s wholly-owned subsidiaries in China and Russia engaged in separate schemes to deliver improper benefits to health care providers at state-owned hospitals and healthcare facilities in exchange for increased sales of AstraZeneca pharmaceutical products.
  
  In China, the SEC claims that the sales and marketing staff at AstraZeneca’s wholly owned Chinese subsidiary used fake tax receipts for fraudulent reimbursements to generate cash for the improper payments.  Those individuals also allegedly funneled payments to bank accounts they opened themselves in the doctors’ names, “engag[ed] a collusive travel vendor” to submit fake or inflated invoices, and paid speaker fees to certain healthcare professionals even though the service contracts were often incomplete or the speaking engagements never occurred.
  
  Similarly, in Russia, the SEC asserts that employees at AstraZeneca’s wholly owned Russian subsidiary provided improper gifts, conference support, and other incentives to healthcare providers at state-owned facilities in exchange for increased sales of AstraZeneca pharmaceutical products.

• Enforcement
• On August 30, 2016, the SEC announced that it had settled its FCPA enforcement action against AstraZeneca.  According to the cease-and-desist order, AstraZeneca violated the FCPA’s books-and-records and internal controls provisions.  As part of the resolution, AstraZeneca agreed to pay a total sanction of $5.5 million.  The DOJ separately declined to bring an enforcement action against the company.

• Amount of the Value
• Not Stated

• Amount of Business Related to Payment
• Not Stated

• Intermediary
• Third-Party Vendor

• Citizenship of Parent Entity
• United Kingdom

• Total Sanction
• $ 5,522,000

• Compliance Monitor
• No

• Reporting Requirements
• No

• Case is Pending?
• No

• Total Combined Monetary Sanction
• $ 5,522,000

AstraZeneca PLC

• Citation
• In the Matter of AstraZeneca PLC, Admin. Proc. File No. 3-17517 (Aug. 30, 2016).

• Date Filed
• 08/30/2016

• Filed Under Seal
• No

• FCPA Statutory Provision
• • Books-and-Records
  • Internal Controls

• Other Statutory Provision
• None

• Disposition
• Cease-and-Desist Order

• Defendant Jurisdictional Basis
• Issuer

• Defendant's Citizenship
• United Kingdom