Engineering giant SNC Lavalin, which has extensive B.C. operations including the Evergreen Line SkyTrain contract, is offering employees 90 days to "voluntarily and truthfully report direct or indirect corrupt or anti-competitive practices," the company has announced.
The Montreal-based company, which has hit the headlines over accusations of corruption and has been blacklisted for 10 years by the World Bank, said that between June 3 and August 31 whistleblowers will not be subject to damage claims or firing.
The amnesty does not apply to executives in the office of the president or management committee groups or those who directly profited from a violation.
"While the vast majority of SNC-Lavalin's employees will have nothing to report, this offer of amnesty will allow us to uncover and quickly deal with any remaining issues," said SNC's chief compliance officer Andreas Pohlmann. "Our goal is to turn the page on a challenging chapter in the company's history, so we can focus all of our attention on creating value for our stakeholders."
International anti-bribery expert Alexandra Wrage called embattled SNC-Lavalin's Monday-announced offer of amnesty to internal whistleblowers "a positive step forward, but it's simpler in theory than in practice."
"This can be a very effective way to get information otherwise unavailable to the company," Wrage, the president of Trace International who recently quite FIFA's anti-corruption panel, told Business in Vancouver.
"The devil is in the details. SNC-Lavalin will need to ensure a fair, safe and non-retaliatory environment for anyone who comes forward. In addition, amnesty granted by SNC-Lavalin is not, of course, the same thing as amnesty granted by enforcement agencies, so employees steeping forward may still fear being swept up in the larger official investigation."
SNC-Lavalin is under investigation in Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia for corruption. Ex-CEO Pierre Duhaime is the highest-ranking former executive among several who have been charged with fraud, conspiracy and forgery.
Gwyn Morgan recently announced his retirement as chair of the company. Morgan was part of Premier Christy Clark's transition team after she won the BC Liberal leadership in February 2011.
The full list of its associated and affiliated companies was revealed by the World Bank when it blacklisted SNC-Lavalin for 10 years in April over bribery allegations in Cambodia and Bangladesh.
SNC-Lavalin is a partner in BC Ferries' Terminal Asset Management and built the Canada Line. It was hired last year to lead the design, build and finance of the $1.4 billion Evergreen Line SkyTrain extension to the Tri-Cities. Its Okanagan Lake Concession Ltd. was involved in the $144 million Bill Bennett floating bridge in Kelowna. The company also acted as the owner's engineer in the Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project.
The World Bank also penalized B.C.-connected SNC-Lavalin subsidiaries:
- Pacific Liaicon and Associates and Harder Associates Engineering Consulting;
- Shenyang SNC-Lutong (Canada) Co. Ltd.;
- SNC-Lavalin Airport Management Inc.;
- SNC-Lavalin Builders Inc.;
- SNC-Lavalin Constructors (Western) Inc.,
- SNC-Lavalin Constructors (Eastern) Inc. and SNC-Lavalin Constructors (Pacific) Inc.; and
- SNC-Lavalin Equity (B.C.) Inc. and SNC-Lavalin Holding Inc.
The list also included federally registered, SNC-Lavalin controlled numbered companies (4246047 Canada, 4246241 Canada and 4470184 Canada) c/o Davis LLP in Vancouver.
"Even though many of those affiliates may have never touched or been involved in a World Bank-financed project, they're all subject to the conditions of the settlement," SNC-Lavalin vice-president Leslie Quinton told BIV in April.
