World Bank’s Corrupt Companies

Canada has the dubious honour of being home to the largest number of firms on a World Bank blacklist of corrupt companies.

But virtually all of that can be attributed to one Canadian company — SNC Lavalin, the construction and engineering giant whose name is becoming a paragon of Canadian corruption.

Of the more than 600 companies now listed as barred from doing business with the World Bank over corruption, 117 are Canadian, the most of any one country. And of those, 115 represent SNC-Lavalin and its subsidiaries, the Financial Post reports.

Among the listed SNC subsidiaries are Candu Energy, which designs CANDU nuclear reactors, and Evergreen Rapid Transit Holdings, the SNC-Lavalin company established to build Vancouver’s new Sky Train line.

The World Bank is in the midst of a crackdown on corrupt companies. It expanded its list by some 250 names in the first seven months of 2015 alone, the South China Morning Post reports.

“We’re not a global policeman, but what we can do is facilitate the global conversation against corruption,” Stephen Zimmerman, director of operations at the bank’s integrity division, told the Financial Times.

After Canada’s 117 listed companies, the U.S. is in second place, with 46 listed. That’s followed by Indonesia (43 firms) and Britain (40 firms).

Section 17A of the MACC Act will come into force on 1 June 2020. This is to weed out corruption in the local business scene. A company will be fined not less than 10x the value of the gratification or RM1 million, whichever is higher or the directors may incur a jail term (or both). Hopefully, this will reduce the ever-increasing requests for “kickbacks” on transactions. The other is to change a culture of avarice to one of integrity.

For Malaysia, PWC in its Global Economic Crime Survey (2016) found 30% of 80 Malaysian companies experienced bribery and corruption in their daily operations. This is higher than the global average of 24%.

References:

1. Canada’s Corrupt Corporations: World Bank’s Corrupt Companies Blacklist, Dominated by Canada, Global Research (https://www.globalresearch.ca)

2. Is Corporate Malaysia Ready for New Laws Against Bribery? The Star, 24 July 2019