Herbalife to Pay $20M Fine to SEC

Herbalife Nutrition has agreed to pay a $20 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that the company made false and misleading statements in its regulatory filings over a six-year period—between 2012 and 2018—related to its business operations in China, where multi-level marketing is illegal. The statements in the filings indicated that Herbalife paid compensation to service providers in China based on a system of hours worked; however, the SEC alleged the company used its global genealogy system to calculate pay based on commissions for eligible downline purchases. Herbalife consented to the SEC order without admitting or denying the commission’s findings.