According to the US regulator, Pfizer staff and agents in Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Serbia made the payments to healthcare professionals in order to obtain regulatory approvals and increase sales.

They tried to conceal the bribery by improperly recording the transactions in accounting records as legitimate expenses for promotional activities, marketing, training, travel and entertainment, clinical trials, freight, conferences and advertising.

The drug giant's actions were in clear violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which bars publicly traded companies from bribing officials in other countries to obtain or retain business

"Pfizer subsidiaries in several countries had bribery so entwined in their sales culture that they offered points and bonus programs to improperly reward foreign officials who proved to be their best customers," said Kara Brockmeyer, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit.

"These charges illustrate the pitfalls that exist for companies that fail to appropriately monitor potential risks in their global operations," she added.

The SEC said Pfizer's misconduct dated back as far as 2001. It also investigated similar activities at another pharmaceutical company, Wyeth, which was acquired by Pfizer in late 2009. The SEC says that since at least 2005, the company bribed government doctors in China, Indonesia and Pakistan so they would recommend their products to patients in return for cash payments, handheld mobile devices or travel incentives.

Pfizer has neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the course of settlement. It has, however, taken "extensive remedial actions", such as a comprehensive worldwide review of its compliance programme.

Following its 2009 acquisition of Wyeth, Pfizer also undertook a risk-based FCPA due diligence review of the company’s global operations and voluntarily reported the findings to the SEC staff.

Click here to read the whole SEC complaint.