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* SFO opens criminal investigation into GSK and subsidiaries
* Action follows bribery claims in China, 4 other countries
* UK Bribery Act prohibits bribes in overseas markets
* SFO probe involves "numerous" jurisdictions - source
* GlaxoSmithKline shares fall 1.5 percent (Adds source on case involving numerous jurisdictions, lawyer,Breakingviews link)
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Britain's fraud office haslaunched a formal criminal investigation into GlaxoSmithKline, posing a new challenge to the drugmaker, which alreadyfaces claims of bribery in China and four other countries.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said late on Tuesday that itsdirector had "opened a criminal investigation into thecommercial practices of GlaxoSmithKline and its subsidiaries",confirming an earlier brief statement from the company.
Shares in the company - Britain's biggest drugmaker and thesixth-largest pharmaceuticals group in the world by sales - fell1.5 percent by 1315 GMT on Wednesday on the news.
"GSK is committed to operating its business to the highestethical standards and will continue to cooperate fully with theSFO," the company said.
Neither the SFO nor GSK gave any further details about thecase, and a company spokesman declined to elaborate. However,one person familiar with the matter said the SFO wasinvestigating GSK's practices in "numerous" jurisdictions.
The SFO action comes less than two weeks after Chinesepolice announced on May 14 that they had charged the formerBritish boss of GSK's China business and other colleagues withcorruption, after an investigation there found evidence of anelaborate scheme to bribe doctors and hospitals.
The case is the biggest corruption scandal to hit a foreigncompany in China since the Rio Tinto affair in2009, which resulted in four executives, including anAustralian, being jailed.
The decision by the British fraud office does not come as acomplete surprise, since lawyers and industry analysts hadpointed out that allegations against GSK in overseas marketscould expose it to charges under the UK Bribery Act.
The new act, like the long-established U.S. Foreign CorruptPractices Act (FCPA), prohibits payments to governmentofficials, including state-employed doctors, to obtain businessoverseas.
However, GSK can claim mitigation against prosecution if itcan demonstrate that it had robust policies and procedures inplace that were circumvented by rogue employees.
"Given GSK is UK headquartered it perhaps isn't verysurprising to hear that the SFO is looking at the issue too andthat they may be interested in activities since 1 July 2011,when the Bribery Act came into force, as from that date thecorporate offence of failing to prevent bribery began to apply,"said Omar Qureshi, a partner at law firm CMS Cameron McKenna.
U.S. authorities are already investigating the Britishdrugmaker for possible violations of U.S. anti-bribery laws inChina, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters lastSeptember.
Societe Generale analyst Stephen McGarry said the ability toclaim mitigating circumstances meant GSK might not face majorfines, but the bad publicity "may restrain GSK's share priceperformance in the near-term".
CHINA ALLEGATIONS "SHAMEFUL"
Authorities in China first accused GSK last July offunnelling up to 3 billion yuan ($480 million) in bribes toencourage doctors to use its medicines in a case that thecompany described in 2013 as "shameful".
Since then, allegations have surfaced in other countries andGSK is now investigating claims that bribes were also paid todoctors in Poland, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
The allegations that bribes were paid in Poland could beparticularly damaging, according to some lawyers, since thecountry belongs to the European Union and GSK would be expectedto uphold the same standards there as in any other EU state.
The persistent controversies about its sales practices inemerging markets are a major headache for Chief Executive AndrewWitty, who has tried to make ethical behaviour a high prioritysince taking charge in 2008.
Despite the barrage of bribery reports, GSK insists it doesnot have a "systemic" problem with improper behaviour and saysit has a clear system for dealing with violations, whichresulted in 48 dismissals and 113 written warnings last year.
In a bid to try and put the problems behind it, GSK isrolling out a new sales model designed to eliminate sharpmarketing practices.
The firm aims to become the first in the industry to stoppaying outside doctors to promote its products, end payments formedics to attend conferences and delink incentives for salesrepresentatives from individual sales targets.
Other large drugmakers have also run into problems overbribery allegations in emerging markets. Pfizer andJohnson & Johnson have both settled claims under theU.S. FCPA within the past three years, and a Reuters examinationin 2012 of filings by the world's top 10 drug companies foundthat eight of them had warned of potential costs related tocharges of corruption in foreign markets.
In China, meanwhile, the authorities are continuing toinvestigate potential corruption cases involving othercompanies, with the eastern city of Hangzhou the latest to crackdown on graft in the healthcare sector this week, according toan internal memo from the local government.
($1 = 6.2486 Chinese Yuan) (Additional reporting by Andy Bruce and Kirstin Ridley; Editingby David Evans and Mark Potter)
