The Court of Quebec has accepted a plea of guilty from SNC-Lavalin Construction (a subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin Group) to a single charge of fraud.
All charges against SNC-Lavalin Group and its international marketing arm, SNC-Lavalin International, have been withdrawn.
As part of the settlement, SNC-Lavalin Construction will pay a fine in the amount of USD280m, payable in equal instalments over 5 years, and will be subject to a three-year probation order.
SNC-Lavalin Group will comply with the probation order for the three-year period. Accordingly, SNC-Lavalin Group will engage an independent monitor who will provide initial and annual reports, executive summaries of which will be posted on the company’s website, and will make any changes to its compliance and ethics programs that are identified by the independent monitor and are required.
SNC-Lavalin group is already subject to monitoring by Public Services and Procurement Canada and the World Bank, and has put in place a robust ethics and compliance program that meets the highest international standards.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Kevin G. Lynch, Chairman said, “We are pleased to settle these legacy issues and remove these legal uncertainties overhanging the Company. We feel this settlement is fair, and we deeply regret this past behaviour which was contrary to our values and ethical standards. The company has changed a great deal, embraced a world-class integrity regime and culture, and going forward we have renewed confidence about the Company’s future.”
With the withdrawal of the charges against SNC-Lavalin Group and SNC-Lavalin International, the settlement mitigates uncertainty and distraction that has been a drag on performance and will assist the company in executing its newly announced strategy of building a global engineering services leader.
The company does not anticipate that the guilty plea by a construction subsidiary (which has not bid on any new contracts since it was charged in 2015) will affect the eligibility of SNC-Lavalin Group companies to bid on future projects that are aligned with the SNC-Lavalin Group's newly announced strategic direction, and continuing to serve its strategic clients here and abroad.