Long Island, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/27/2013 -- On August 19, popular news blog DigitalOlympus.com commented on a Wall Street Journal news article by Christopher M. Matthews concerning the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to launch a new formal probe into SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. in order to investigate the company’s compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

According to the aforementioned news piece, “SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Friday it had received another subpoena from federal authorities in the course of a long-running foreign corruption probe.” The news article also stated the Foster City, Calif.-drug company had received a previous subpoena in 2010 from the SEC related to some of its marketing activities in China.

To be more precise, for the last three years both the SEC and the Department of Justice have been conducting an inquiry into the pharmaceutical company for alleged violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that were mostly related to sales and marketing expenditures at NovaMed Pharmaceuticals (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., the company’s Chinese subsidiary.

After reviewing the circumstances surrounding the SEC’s decision, Josh Cole, a lead researcher at ar, underscored SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. approach to the probe. According to Cole, SciClone’s decision to open a new independent internal investigation shows that while no company wants to undergo a FCPA probe, most of them do learn how to better conduct their business in foreign countries.

“Company executives grasp a better understanding of business practices in foreign countries after this kind of situations have arisen,” said Cole. “But that’s looking at the glass half-full. Why wait to take remedial actions? Business leaders must employ experts to conduct investigations and learn about how the company should operate in a foreign country.”

Cole also stressed the importance to exercise constant due diligence in order to make decisions that will allow the company to execute effective FCPA compliance programs.

The Wall Street Journal concluded by affirming that SciClone had cut its earnings estimates for 2013 due to the increasing legal and accounting costs related to this FCPA investigation (more than $16 million this year alone).

The news piece stated that the pharmaceutical company is also investing in improving its FCPA compliance programs, in an attempt to adequately implement their internal controls and comply with all the pertinent laws.

As an important member of a leading news and technology blog, Cole encourages Digital Olympus’ readers to hire third-party companies to strengthen their compliance programs.

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