"make it too hard to conduct business. The strict liability offense made firms particularly worriedthey could be held liable for bribery even if the majority of the company was not aware briberywas taking place. However, like the FCPA, penalties under the Bribery Act might be reduced ifthe company is found to have adequate controls against corruption and a proactive corporateculture supporting ethical conduct. Companies must also report bribery to the proper authoritiesthe moment the bribery is discovered. While neither law states a firm will not be prosecutedbecause it reported bribery, active cooperation may significantly reduce the severity of penaltiesimposed, and officials can examine the firm to see if it adopted a proactive approach towardcombating bribery. How a prosecution would impact the public interest is also considered whendeciding on potential penalties for bribery violations. Finally, while there are no clear rulesdistinguishing gifts given as an act of hospitality from bribes, the Serious Fraud Office of theUnited Kingdom has stated it will not pursue reasonable gifts of hospitality.PENALTIES UNDER THE FCPA AND THE U.K. BRIBERY ACTThe following section provides examples of companies or individuals found to be in violation ofbribery laws. Table 1 provides a brief summary of additional companies fined under the FCPA.While many firms have been fined under the FCPA, the relative newness of the Bribery Actmeans that as yet there have been few prosecutions. However, the prosecutions that haveoccurred demonstrate the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom takes the topic of briberyseriously.BK-CHE-FERRELL_11E-150190-Case 18.indd 602Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, orduplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressedcontent does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves theright to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.Case 18: Managing the Risks of Global Bribery in Business 603Pfizer It is important for companies to carefully monitor their own practices and also those oftheir subsidiaries. In August 2012 the SEC charged Pfizer Inc. with violating the FCPA when itssubsidiaries allegedly bribed doctors and other health care professionals employed by foreigngovernments to win business. The SEC charges stated that employees from Pfizer’s subsidiariesin countries including Russia, China, the Czech Republic, and Italy made improper payments toforeign public officials in exchange for regulatory approvals and increased sales. Pfizer wascharged with attempting to cover up these bribes through illegal accounting measures byrecording these transactions as promotional activities, marketing, and other deceptive entries.Ultimately, Pfizer was charged with two criminal counts: conspiracy to violate the FCPA, and aviolation of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions. However, the prosecutors agreed to deferprosecution and drop the charges if, after two years, Pfizer continued to take steps to correct andprevent such actions from reoccurring. Such remedial actions included proactively enforcing ananti-corruption program and appointing a senior executive to serve as chief compliance and riskofficer. Furthermore, Pfizer was required to appoint compliance heads for each of its businessunits as well as develop an executive compliance committee. To settle the case, Pfizer and twosubsidiaries agreed to pay $60.2 million. Ultimately, while Pfizer maintains that top leaders wereunaware of the bribery, the action taken against the company shows it is still considered to beresponsible. Siemens: FCPA’s Global Reach In many cases the FCPA has resulted in significantpenalties for foreign companies. An example of this is the company Siemens Aktiengesellschaft,a German company and global multinational in electronics and electrical engineering. BecauseSiemens’s American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are traded on the New York Stock Exchange,the company is subject to the FCPA even though it is a foreign firm. In 2008 the U.S. "