MONTREAL -- SNC-Lavalin's name is no longer on the World Bank's blacklist, which was imposed on the engineering and construction firm in 2013 for cases of embezzlement in Bangladesh and Cambodia.
In a press release Tuesday, the Quebec-based multinational said the international financial institution had lifted the sanctions imposed on it, which were initially scheduled to last a decade.
The decision means SNC-Lavalin will be able to resume bidding and carrying out work financed by the World Bank, which expects to have deployed US$160 billion in developing countries by the end of June.
It should also have a positive impact on the reputation of the company, which has made a multitude of efforts over the past decade to turn the page on its troubled past, clouded by corruption scandals.
When it cracked down on SNC-Lavalin in 2013, the World Bank noted that the 10-year debarment was the "longest debarment period ever". The debarment was eventually reduced to eight years as the Montreal-based firm met the international institution's compliance requirements.
The company's president and CEO, Ian Edwards, noted in a statement that SNC-Lavalin had 'done its homework' since 2012.
In December 2019, SNC-Lavalin had reached an agreement to set aside fraud and corruption charges laid in 2015 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for actions taken in Libya between 2001 and 2011. This was accompanied by a fine of $280 million. The company was allowed to retain the right to compete for federal government contracts.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2021.
