Smith & Nephew to pay $22M fine for Greek bribery

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged medical device company Smith & Nephew under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for bribing Greek public doctors over more than a decade. Smith & Nephew SNN +0.32%will pay more than $22 million as part of a deal with the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint alleges that Smith & Nephew subsidiaries used a distributor that created a "slush fund" to forward payments to doctors working at government hospitals in Greece in order to win business. "Smith & Nephew's subsidiaries chose a path of corruption rather than fair and honest competition," said Kara Brockmeyer, chief of the SEC enforcement division's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit. "The SEC will continue to hold companies liable as we investigate the medical device industry for this type of illegal behavior."