SEC Charges Novartis AG with FCPA Violations

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Novartis AG, a global pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, has agreed to pay over $112 million to settle charges that it violated the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The SEC's order finds that local subsidiaries or affiliates of Novartis or its former subsidiary Alcon Inc. engaged in schemes to make improper payments or to provide benefits to public and private healthcare providers in South Korea, Vietnam, and Greece in exchange for prescribing or using Novartis or Alcon products. According to the order, these schemes took place between 2012 and 2016 and were known among certain managers of the local subsidiaries or affiliates.