英アストラゼネカ社、中国とロシアにおける不正支出で罰金（economiaより）

Astra Zeneca settles SEC charges with $5.5m pay-out

英国に本拠を置く製薬会社アストラゼネカが、米SECから550万ドルの罰金が課せられたという記事。

海外腐敗行為防止法の内部統制や記録保持に関する規定に違反して、中国とロシアで、医療供給者（病院・医師など）や公務員に対して、不適切な支出を行っていたそうです。罰金には、不正支出によって得られた430万ドルの利益も含まれています。

FTSE 100 company Astra Zeneca (AZN) has agreed to pay out $5.522m (£4.2m) to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges relating to improper payments made to healthcare providers (HCPs) and local officials in China and Russia

The total sum includes $4.325m, representing profits that the pharmaceutical group gained as a result of the alleged improper payments which included gifts, conference support, travel, cash and other benefits.

According to the SEC, over a number of years sales and marketing staff in China and Russia made the improper payments as incentives to persuade HCPs to purchase or prescribe AZN pharmaceuticals. This was in violation of the internal controls and record-keeping provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

中国における裏金作りのことが書いてあります。偽造の領収書（发票）を使ったり、ベンダーと共謀して架空請求や水増し請求をさせたりといったことをやっています。

In China, sales staff submitted (and managerial employees knowingly approved) fake fa piao (tax receipts) for fraudulent reimbursements to generate cash to be used to make improper payments. They also set up bank accounts in doctors’ names or engaged a collusive travel vendor who submitted fake or inflated invoices to generate cash that could be used to pass money to HCPs.

架空イベントの講師料を医療供給者に支払うということもあったそうです。

Sometimes, the company paid speaker fees to HCPs to appear at events that were totally fabricated. Staff were also able to bypass formal approval procedures that required validation by a designated signatory in AZN’s electronic approval system.

SECのプレスリリース。

https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2016/34-78730.pdf