Petrofac Shares Rise on Guilty Plea to Seven Counts of Bribery
September 24 2021 - 10:13AM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Hoppe
Petrofac Ltd. shares rose Friday after it said that it has
reached a plea agreement with the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office in
relation to an investigation into the company's failure to prevent
bribery.
Shares at 1331 GMT were up 13.5 pence, or 12%, at 122.0
pence.
The provider of services to the energy industry said it will
make guilty pleas to seven counts of failing to prevent former
Petrofac employees from offering or making payments to agents
involved in projects awarded in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and
Saudi Arabia between 2012 and 2015, in violation of the U.K.
Bribery Act 2010. The offers or payments were made between 2011 and
2017, it said.
The Jersey, U.K.-based company said that a sentencing is
scheduled to take place on Sept. 27, and a penalty will be made at
the sole discretion of the court.
Petrofac said that the penalty may take into account the
company's ability to pay, along with the office's recognition that
the company has different leadership, personnel, compliance and
assurance processes.
On Jan. 15, Petrofac's former Global Head of Sales David Lufkin
pleaded guilty to charges relating to corrupt offers and payments
worth around $3.3 billion. Mr. Lufkin had also pleaded guilty to 11
other charges of bribery in Feb. 2019.
"Petrofac has been living under the shadow of the past, but
today it is a profoundly different business, in which stakeholders
can be assured of our commitment to the highest standards of
business ethics, wherever we operate," Chairman Rene Medori
said.
Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 24, 2021 09:58 ET (13:58 GMT)
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