SEC Settles Foreign Bribery Charges Against Smith & Nephew

The SEC announced a settlement with Smith & Nephew PLC to resolve SEC charges that the global medical device company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when its subsidiaries bribed public doctors in Greece for more than a decade. Smith & Nephew PLC, headquartered in London, England, is a global medical device company with operations around the world.

The SEC alleges that, from 1997 to June 2008, two of Smith &Nephew PLC’s subsidiaries, including its U.S. subsidiary, Smith & Nephew Inc., used a distributor to create a slush fund to make illicit payments to public doctors employed by government hospitals or agencies in Greece. Smith &Nephew PLC agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying more than $5.4 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. In addition, Smith &Nephew PLC agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for a period of eighteen months to review its FCPA compliance program.

Smith &Nephew PLC’s U.S. subsidiary, Smith & Nephew Inc., agreed to pay a $16.8 million fine to settle parallel criminal charges announced by the U.S. Department of Justice today.