GlaxoSmithKline paid $20 million to settle a US foreign bribery case for disguising bribes to Chinese officials as legitimate expenses from 2010 to 2013. The bribes were meant to boost sales through increased prescriptions and hospital purchases. They came in the form of gifts, travel, shopping, and cash. This is not the first bribery scandal for GSK, as in 2014 China fined them $490 million for admitting to paying bribes to doctors and hospitals to promote their products illegally. Pharmaceutical companies paid large fines in 2016 for foreign corrupt practices.

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GlaxoSmithKline Bribery & Corruption Case
Thomson Reuters Regulator Intelligence
REUTERS/Jason Lee
Know Your 3rd Party Risk
Christel Boutros

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AGENDA
• GlaxoSmithKline PLC Introduction
• GlaxoSmithKline PLC Bribery and Corruption Case
• Pharma Industry Bribery and Corruption Cases in 2016

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GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC – INTRODUCTION
GlaxoSmithKline PLC is a research-based pharmaceutical company. The
Company develops, manufactures, and markets vaccines, prescription, and over-
the-counter medicines, as well as health-related consumer products.
GlaxoSmithKline provides products for infections, depression, skin conditions,
asthma, heart and circulatory disease, and cancer.
03-10-2016

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GlaxoSmithKline had to pay $20 million to settle U.S. foreign bribery case and settle civil charges
that it masked bribes to foreign officials in China by disguising them as legitimate travel, entertainment and
marketing expenses. The company's China-based subsidiary and a China-based joint venture violated
internal controls and record-keeping provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
From 2010 through June 2013, the company's employees and agents bribed officials in order to boost
its sales through increases in prescriptions and purchases by hospitals.
The payments came in the form of gifts, travel, shopping excursions and cash, among other things
such as medical association sponsorships, employee expenses, conferences, speaker fees and marketing
costs
The pharmaceutical company agreed to settle the case with the Securities and Exchange Commission
without admitting or denying any wrongdoing.
In a statement, the company said it had cooperated with the SEC and it had received credit for taking
steps to improve its operations, such as changing how sales representatives are paid and stopping the
practice of paying healthcare professionals to speak to doctors about the company's products.
The SEC's $20 million civil settlement with GlaxoSmithKline resolves the latest case to emerge from
an industry-wide sweep that started in 2010.
GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC – BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION CASE

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This is not the first bribery scandal for GSK. In 2014, China fined GSK $490M after they
pleaded guilty to paying bribes to doctors and hospitals to have their products promoted. The
company was accused of having made an estimated $150M in illegal profits and a number
of GSK executives were jailed for this scandal.
PHARMA INDUSTRY BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION CASES IN 2016
2016 FCPA fines in the
pharma industry
Total amounting in
combined settlements.

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Thank you
Q&A
REUTERS/John Kolesidis