“GSK plc sincerely apologises to the Chinese patients, doctors and hospitals, and to the Chinese Government and the Chinese people?.?.?.”
It is quite something for a company to apologise to 1.3bn people all at once. Focus on the doctors. They are the reason for the Rmb3bn fine (nearly $500m) which GlaxoSmithKline must pay in China.
GSK’s Chinese subsidiary was found guilty of bribery on Friday after a year-long investigation. The stock market was never bothered. The shares moved little when the investigation, and then the fine, were disclosed. China may be too small to matter much for now. It is under 3 per cent of GSK’s sales. And one might assume that China will continue to grow without much cost. After all, GSK’s apology does not suggest its Chinese business will face formal oversight – unlike banks who pay fines to US regulators and must host embedded “compliance offices”.