Walgreens pays $34.5M in SEC case

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to pay $34.5 million to resolve allegations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC alleged the company misled investors about an increased risk Walgreens would miss a financial target when it announced in 2012 it would merge with Alliance Boots.

“Over multiple reporting periods, senior Walgreens executives misled investors about the company’s public financial goal,” Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said in the agency’s statement. “The penalty assessed against Walgreens is intended to punish and deter such conduct, which deprived investors of information necessary to make fully informed investment decisions.”

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