SEC Charges The Hain Celestial Group with Internal Controls Failures

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against a natural and organic food company stemming from weaknesses in the company's internal controls related to end-of-quarter sales practices that were designed to help the company meet its internal sales targets. Based upon its extensive cooperation with the SEC's investigation, which included self-reporting and remediation efforts, the SEC did not impose a monetary penalty on the company. According to the SEC's order, between 2014 and 2016, sales personnel for The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. offered the company's two largest distributors incentives at the end of fiscal quarters to encourage the purchase of sufficient inventory for Hain to meet quarterly internal sales targets.