Yesterday, the SEC released this administrative action finding that SciClone Pharmaceuticals (a California pharmaceutical company with a China-focused business) violated the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records and internal controls provisions.
The conduct at issue related to the marketing and promotional activities of SciClone Pharmaceuticals International Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SciClone incorporated in the Cayman Islands with an affiliate in Hong Kong.
Among other things of value provided to healthcare professionals employed by state-owned hospitals in China were weekend trips, foreign language classes, “golf in the morning and beer drinking in the evening,” and travel to the Grand Canyon and Disneyland.
In summary fashion, the SEC’s order states:
“From at least 2007 to 2012, employees of SciClone subsidiaries, who acted as agents of SciClone in conducting business in China, gave money, gifts and other things of value to foreign officials, including healthcare professionals (“HCPs”) who were employed by state-owned hospitals in China, in order to obtain sales of SciClone pharmaceutical products. Various means were employed, and these schemes were known to and condoned by various managers within SciClone’s China-based corporate structure. The related transactions were falsely recorded in SciClone’s books and records as legitimate business expenses, such as sponsorships, travel and entertainment, conferences, honoraria, and promotion expenses. During this period, SciClone also failed to devise and maintain a sufficient system of internal accounting controls and lacked an effective anti-corruption compliance program.”
The conduct at issue largely focused on SciClone Pharmaceuticals International Ltd. (“SPIL”) which is described as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SciClone that is incorporated in the Cayman Islands with an affiliate in Hong Kong. According to the order:
“SciClone operates internationally primarily through subsidiaries, including SPIL and SPIL’s wholly-owned subsidiaries that sell and promote SciClone’s products in China. SciClone directs the relevant operations of SPIL and its subsidiaries and oversees SPIL’s operations through various means including through the appointment of directors and officers of SPIL, review and approval of its annual budget, business and financial goals, and oversight of its legal, audit, and compliance functions. SciClone also reviews and approves annual marketing and promotion budgets of SPIL and its subsidiaries. During relevant periods, some SciClone officers also served as officers and/or directors of SPIL, traveled frequently to China to participate in the management of SPIL, and were responsible for negotiating its contracts with its Chinese distributors. SPIL’s books and records are consolidated by SciClone and reported in its financial statements.”
Under the heading “Facts,” the order states:
“Although SciClone has local distributor relationships in China, its sales and marketing activities there are conducted through SPIL. Sales representatives in China regularly reported to senior management of SPIL on their efforts to increase sales. In these reports, sales representatives openly referred to instances in which they provided weekend trips, vacations, gifts, expensive meals, foreign language classes, and entertainment to HCPs in order to obtain an increase in prescriptions from those HCPs. As described by one sales manager, this was “luring them with the promise of profit.”
Some sales representatives referred to those HCPs with the greatest impact on their sales volume as VIP clients, and provided details on their volume of prescriptions when reporting to SPIL. This practice was known and encouraged by certain former SPIL managers at the time SPIL and SciClone had overlapping officers and/or directors. These reports included such things as:
- In August 2005, numerous surgical VIP clients including several hospital presidents attended the annual Qingdao Beer Festival consisting of golf in the morning and beer-drinking in the evening. In later years, SPIL continued to sponsor VIPs to the annual festival.
- In February 2007, VIP clients were provided with vacations to Anji, China.
- In November 2007, a sales representative recounted the experience of recruiting a VIP client by paying for family vacations and regular family dinners through an employee expense account. The sales representative attributed a nearly four-fold sales increase to that VIP as a result.
In 2007, SciClone submitted a license application to the State Food and Drug Administration for a new medical device product and had a renewal pending for its largest product. SciClone hired a well-connected regulatory affairs specialist (“Specialist”) to facilitate that licensing.
The Specialist arranged trips for two foreign officials to attend an academic conference in Greece at SciClone’s expense. The conference was solely related to the new medical device. One of the foreign officials had oversight over new product approvals, and the other foreign official had oversight over renewals for existing licensed products. At the time the trip was arranged, both SciClone’s renewal application and its application for a new license were pending.
As the foreign officials were unable to obtain travel visas in time to attend the conference in Greece, the Specialist instead provided them at least $8,600 in lavish gifts. The Specialist submitted two expense reimbursements for the gifts, the first of which was approved by the senior vice president of SPIL.
After learning of the gifts, SciClone terminated the Specialist and conducted an internal investigation related to the Specialist’s conduct and practices in China. The review did not look more broadly at sales and marketing practices in China. No further action or remedial measures were taken by SciClone or SPIL after the conclusion of the internal investigation in 2008.
Local Chinese travel companies were routinely hired to provide services (such as arranging transportation, accommodations, and meals for HCPs) in connection with what were ostensibly legitimate conferences, seminars, and other events. In addition to a lack of due diligence for these third party vendors, prior to 2012, there was a lack of controls over the events to ensure they had an appropriate business purpose and that the events actually occurred. Many events did not include a legitimate educational purpose or the educational activities were minimal in comparison to the sightseeing or recreational activities. For example:
- Between at least 2008 and 2010, SciClone sponsored dozens of Chinese HCPs to attend liver and oncology conferences in the United States. While a portion of the travel was devoted to educational purposes, it also consisted of significant sightseeing that involved, for example, travel to Las Vegas and Los Angeles with tours of the Grand Canyon or Disneyland.
- In April 2010, SPIL sponsored Chinese HCPs to attend a seminar in Japan regarding Zadaxin, its principle product. While a portion of the meeting appeared to involve half a day of educational activities, the remaining six days involved sightseeing and tourist locations such as Mt. Fuji.
- In March 2010, SPIL held its annual sales meeting in China on the island of Hainan, a resort destination. The sales meeting was attended by the sales representatives and senior management from SPIL. The weekend before the sales meeting, SPIL hosted VIP clients to a weekend stay on Hainan. There was no educational component to the VIP clients’ stay.
As part of its remedial efforts, SciClone conducted a detailed, comprehensive internal review of promotion expenses of employees from 2011 to early 2013. This review found high exception rates indicating violations of corporate policy that ranged from fake fapiao, inconsistent amounts or dates with fapiao, excessive gift or meal amounts, unverified events, doctored honoraria agreements, and duplicative meetings. A portion of the funds generated through the reimbursements were used as part of the sales practices described above that continued through at least 2012.”
Based on the above, the SEC found as follows:
“SciClone through SPIL violated [the anti-bribery provisions] by providing things of value to foreign officials, including healthcare professionals (“HCPs”) who were employed by state-owned hospitals in China, in order to obtain sales of SciClone pharmaceutical products. SciClone violated [the books and records provisions] by improperly recording the payments to health care providers as sales, marketing, and promotion expenses. The false entries were initially recorded by SPIL which were then consolidated and reported by SciClone in its consolidated financial statements. SciClone violated [the internal controls provisions] by failing to devise and maintain a sufficient system of internal accounting controls to detect and prevent the making of improper payments to foreign officials.”
Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, SciClone is required to cease and desist from committing future FCPA violations and agreed to pay approximately $12.8 million ($9,426,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest of $900,000 as well as a $2.5 million civil penalty).
In resolving the action, SciClone agreed to “report to the Commission staff periodically, at no less than nine-month intervals during a three-year term, the status of its remediation and implementation of compliance measures.” Specifically, SciClone is required to “submit to the Commission staff a written report within 180 calendar days of the entry of this Order setting forth a complete description of its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and anti-corruption related remediation efforts to date, its proposals reasonably designed to improve the policies and procedures of Respondent for ensuring compliance with the FCPA and other applicable anticorruption laws, and the parameters of the subsequent reviews.” In addition, SciClone is required to “undertake at least three follow-up reviews, incorporating any comments provided by the Commission staff on the previous report, to further monitor and assess whether the policies and procedures of Respondent are reasonably designed to detect and prevent violations of the FCPA and other applicable anti-corruption laws.”
Under the heading “Remedial Efforts,” the order states:
“SciClone has taken steps to improve its internal accounting controls and to create a dedicated compliance function. These include the following: (1) hiring a compliance officer for its China operations; (2) undertaking an extensive review of the policies and procedures surrounding employee travel and entertainment reimbursements; (3) substantially reducing the number of suppliers providing third-party travel and event planning services; (4) improving its policies and procedures around third-party due diligence and payments; (5) incorporating anticorruption provisions in its third-party contracts; (6) providing anti-corruption training to its third-party travel and event planning vendors; (7) disciplining employees (and their managers) who violate SciClone’s policies; and (8) creating an internal audit department and compliance department.”
In this release, SciClone’s Chief Executive Officer (Friedhelm Blobel) commented: “We are very pleased to have reached a final settlement with the SEC and DOJ that is in line with our previous expectations and brings this matter to conclusion. We believe that we have established an industry-leading compliance program, including a commitment to constant improvement, which is a key business asset. We look forward to continuing to focus on providing high quality medicines to patients, growing our business and creating value for our shareholders.”
John Dwyer and Jessica Valenzuela Santamaria (Cooley) represented SciClone.
