Amgen, the biopharmaceutical giant, is set to resolve FTC and state concerns regarding its acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, according to a press release. The settlement terms will prevent Amgen from using its drug portfolio to unfairly compete with rivals and will mandate pre-approval for related product acquisitions.
"Consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry has given companies the power and incentive to engage in exclusionary rebating practices, which can lead to sky-rocketing prices on essential medications," Henry Liu, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI), a broker-dealer, has resolved cease-and-desist proceedings for willfully breaching recordkeeping regulations pertaining to its underwriting operations. Federal securities laws mandate broker-dealers to create and maintain up-to-date books and records, including those detailing assets and liabilities. As per the SEC's order, CGMI employed an unsupported and unverified approach to calculate and document indirect expenses linked to its underwriting work from 2009 through May 2019, according to the agency's press release.
The order states that CGMI determined these indirect expenses by applying a fixed percentage of the underwriting fee for each lead underwriting deal, subsequently dividing the total using fixed "allocation grids." Remarkably, CGMI had no comprehension of the basis of this calculation method for over a decade and failed to conduct any verification process to ascertain its reasonableness.
The SEC's order accuses CGMI of violating Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 17a-3. Although CGMI neither admits nor denies the SEC's findings, it has agreed to a cease-and-desist order, a censure and a civil penalty of $2.9 million. The SEC's investigation was carried out by Chevon Walker, Mala Bartucci and Lindsay Moilanen from the New York Regional Office, with support from the SEC Enforcement Division's Market Abuse Unit and the New York Regional Office Broker-Dealer and Exchange Examination Program. Joseph Sansone supervised the investigation.
