GSK apologizes after huge fine in China

A Chinese court has fined the GSK China Investment Co. Ltd. subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK) and found it guilty of bribing "non-government personnel" and violating Chinese law by offering money or property to obtain improper commercial gains.

The RMB3 billion ($488 million) penalty is a record corporate fine in China, according to state news agency Xinhua. Authorities last year accused GSK of funneling the same amount to doctors and officials to boost product sales in China, according to the government-run CCTV. The fine represents about 40% of the pharma's pharmaceutical and vaccine sales in China in 2012, the year before the Ministry of Public Security began investigating GSK. ...