VILMORIN SEC Filings and corporate actions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2012-26

Washington, D.C., Feb. 9, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged that a former employee of Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. traded on inside information about the Japanese firm’s business alliances and corporate acquisitions.

Brent Bankosky, a former Senior Director in Takeda’s U.S.-based business development group, has agreed to pay more than $136,000 to settle the SEC’s charges. The proposed settlement is subject to the approval of Judge Harold Baer, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Under the proposed settlement, the Court, upon motion by the Commission, will determine whether to impose an officer-and-director bar against Bankosky.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Bankosky reaped more than $63,000 of profits, achieving a 169% rate of return, by trading on non-public information about two business transactions in 2008. Takeda’s business development group worked on the transactions, a strategic alliance with Cell Genesys, Inc., and the acquisition of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which were referred to internally by their code names, Project Ceres and Project Mercury. Bankosky’s trading violated U.S. securities laws and Takeda’s policies, which forbade employees from disclosing or trading based on inside information.

“Brent Bankosky was entrusted with highly confidential information of Takeda and betrayed that trust to line his own pocket,” said George S. Canellos, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “His is another cautionary tale of an employee who succumbed to greed and the delusion that he wouldn’t get caught.”

Sanjay Wadhwa, Associate Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office and Deputy Chief of the Market Abuse Unit, added, “We are determined to rid the U.S. marketplace of illegal insider trading, and we will pursue it wherever we find it, irrespective of whether it’s a hedge fund reaping millions of dollars in illicit gains or an individual investor hoping to fly under the radar by making relatively small insider trading profits.”

According to the SEC’s complaint, almost immediately after Bankosky joined Takeda in January 2008 as a Director in its business development group, he began to misuse confidential corporate information for his personal benefit. In February 2008, Bankosky began placing trades in his personal brokerage account based on non-public information about Takeda’s proposed strategic alliance with Cell Genesys, which was announced in March. Starting in March 2008, Bankosky made additional trades for his own account based on non-public information about Takeda’s plan to acquire Millennium, which was announced in April. Bankosky also traded on other confidential information in 2009 and 2010, purchasing call options in the securities of Arena Pharmaceutical, Inc., and AMAG Pharmaceutical, Inc., respectively, when the firms were engaged in confidential discussions on business transactions with Takeda. Bankosky, who was promoted to Senior Director of Takeda’s business development group in September 2010, resigned from Takeda in May 2011.

The SEC’s complaint charges Bankosky with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, as well as Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act and Rule 14e-3. The complaint seeks a final judgment ordering Bankosky to pay a financial penalty and disgorge his ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, preventing him from serving as an officer or director of a public company, and permanently enjoining him from future violations of those provisions of the federal securities laws.

The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by Charles D. Riely and Amelia A. Cottrell – members of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit in New York – and Layla Mayer of the SEC’s New York Regional Office.

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For more information about this enforcement action, contact:

George S. Canellos
Director, SEC’s New York Regional Office
(212) 336-1020

Sanjay Wadhwa
Associate Director, SEC’s New York Regional Office and Deputy Chief, Market Abuse Unit
(212) 336-0181

Amelia A. Cottrell
Assistant Director, SEC’s New York Regional Office and Market Abuse Unit
(212) 336-1056

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2012-25

Washington, D.C., Feb. 6, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged London-based medical device company Smith & Nephew PLC with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when its U.S. and German subsidiaries bribed public doctors in Greece for more than a decade to win business.

Smith & Nephew PLC and its U.S. subsidiary Smith & Nephew Inc. agreed to pay more than $22 million in agreements with the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice. The charges stem from the SEC’s and DOJ’s ongoing proactive global investigation of bribery of publicly-employed physicians by medical device companies.

The SEC’s complaint against Smith & Nephew PLC alleges that its subsidiaries used a distributor to create a slush fund to make illicit payments to public doctors employed by government hospitals or agencies in Greece. On paper, it appeared as though Smith & Nephew’s subsidiaries were paying for marketing services, but no services were actually performed. The scheme basically created off-shore funds that were not subject to Greek taxes to pay bribes to public doctors to purchase Smith & Nephew products.

“Smith & Nephew’s subsidiaries chose a path of corruption rather than fair and honest competition,” said Kara Novaco 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.”

According to the SEC’s complaint against Smith & Nephew PLC filed in federal court in Washington D.C., U.S. subsidiary Smith & Nephew Inc. and German subsidiary Smith & Nephew Orthopaedics GmbH has sold orthopedic products in Greece since the 1970s through the Greek distributor. Greece has a national health care system in which most Greek hospitals are publicly-owned and operated, and doctors who work at those publicly-owned hospitals are government employees and “foreign officials” as defined in the FCPA.

The SEC alleges that the misconduct began in 1997, when Smith & Nephew’s subsidiaries developed a scheme to make payments to three shell entities in the United Kingdom controlled by the distributor. Those funds were used by the distributor to pay bribes to the Greek doctors on behalf of the Smith & Nephew subsidiaries. Smith & Nephew failed to act on numerous red flags of bribery as employees at the company and its subsidiaries became aware of the payments. In one e-mail exchange between employees at the U.S. subsidiary and the distributor concerning whether to reduce the distributor’s commissions, the distributor stated, “… In case it is not clear to you, please understand that I am paying cash incentives right after each surgery…” Smith & Nephew Inc. determined not to reduce the commissions.

Smith & Nephew PLC agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying more than $5.4 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. Its subsidiary Smith & Nephew Inc. agreed to pay a $16.8 million fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice. Smith & Nephew PLC consented without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, to the entry of a court order permanently enjoining it from future violations of Sections 30A, 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and ordering it to retain an independent compliance monitor for a period of 18 months to review its FCPA compliance program.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Tracy L. Price of the Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit along with Brent S. Mitchell and Reid A. Muoio. The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice Fraud Section and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The SEC’s investigation into the medical device industry is continuing.

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For more information about this enforcement action, contact:

Kara Novaco Brockmeyer
Chief, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit, Division of Enforcement
202-551-4767

Tracy L. Price
Assistant Director, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit, Division of Enforcement
202-551-4490

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2012-24

Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2012 ? The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has named Jeanette M. Franzel to be a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Ms. Franzel, currently a Managing Director of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) with over 20 years of public service, will replace Daniel L. Goelzer, one of the founding members and a former interim Chairman of the five-member Board.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 created the PCAOB to provide independent oversight of audits of public companies and broker-dealers. The Board is responsible for setting audit standards and for registering, inspecting, and disciplining public accounting firms. The SEC oversees the PCAOB and appoints its members.

?Jeanette?s commitment to the public trust and America?s investors is demonstrated by her life-long public service and her constant dedication to increasing accountability, audit quality and audit standards,? said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. ?She has extensive hands-on experience leading financial audits and deep expertise in audit quality control which will serve the PCAOB well as it continues to execute a rigorous standard-setting, inspections, and enforcement agenda.?

?I would like to thank Dan Goelzer for nearly a decade of service at the PCAOB and for continuing to serve while the search for a new member of the Board was underway,? Chairman Schapiro added. ?I wish him the very best in his future endeavors.?

SEC Chief Accountant James L. Kroeker said, ?We look forward to working with Jeanette on the PCAOB?s important statutory mission of overseeing the auditors of public companies and SEC-registered broker-dealers. Her qualifications as a nationally and internationally recognized expert in auditing standards will benefit the PCAOB as it works to protect the interests of investors and strengthen audit quality.?

Ms. Franzel currently leads all aspects of GAO?s financial audit oversight of the U.S. federal government. She heads a team of approximately 250 staff that focuses on financial and performance audits, proper use of federal funds, internal control, financial systems, and federal audit and financial management policy. Ms. Franzel is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM). She received her bachelor?s degree from the College of St. Teresa and holds an M.B.A. from George Mason University.

?I am honored to continue serving the public interest in my new role as a member of the PCAOB. I look forward to advancing the agenda to strengthen investor protection through high quality audits of public companies and broker-dealers,? said Ms. Franzel.

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