The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announces that Novartis (NVS +0.7%) has agreed to pay $112.8M to settle claims that it violated the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
The matter pertained to improper payments made to public and private healthcare providers in South Korea, Vietnam and Greece by local subsidiaries or former unit Alcon in exchange for prescribing/using Novartis or Alcon products. The schemes occurred during the period 2012 - 2016 and were known among local managers.
The SEC order also found that Novartis lacked sufficient internal accounting controls within Alcon's business in China from 2013 - 2015, allowing executives to use forged contracts as part of local financing deals. Novartis and Alcon wrote off more than $50M in bad debt as a result.
