Bruker Settles Bribery Case

Bruker will pay $2.4 million to settle a Securities & Exchange Commission charge that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. SEC says the instrumentation company made $230,000 in improper payments to Chinese government officials to win about $1.7 million in profits from sales contracts with state-owned entities. Bruker lacked the internal controls to prevent and detect payments out of its offices in China, which falsely recorded 12 “sham collaboration agreements” and non-business-related travel as legitimate expenses. Bruker reported its own misconduct and cooperated with SEC. In September, SEC and the Justice Department took no action after an investigation of similar concerns at Bruker rival Agilent Technologies.