3M Co has agreed to pay more than $6.5 million to resolve U.S. charges of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations (FCPA) related to a 3M subsidiary in China, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday.
The SEC alleged that a 3M unit in China made arrangements to provide Chinese government officials with overseas travel, including tourism activities, to induce them to purchase company products, according to a statement from the U.S. regulator.
3M did not admit or deny the SEC's findings, according to the statement. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Employees at the 3M unit colluded with local travel agencies to make the arrangements, and the subsidiary paid nearly $1 million to fund at least 24 trips for Chinese government officials that included tourism activities and shopping visits, the SEC alleged.
"This matter highlights the dangers to companies with global operations posed by inadequate internal accounting controls,” said SEC's FCPA unit chief Charles Cain.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Ismail Shakil; editing by Rami Ayyub and Caitlin Webber)
