THE World Bank has welcome the announcement by the UK Serious Fraud
Office to order Macmillan Publishers Limited to pay a substantial sum stemming
from an SFO corruption investigation, which was launched in response to a
referral from the World Bank’s Integrity Vice-Presidency (INT).
In April 2010, the
World Bank Group debarred Macmillan Limited, a U.K. company, declaring the
company ineligible to be awarded Bank-financed contracts for a period of six
years in the wake of the company’s admission of bribery payments relating to a
Trust Fund-supported education project in Sudan. The debarment can be further
reduced to three years depending upon the company implementing a compliance
program and their cooperation with INT.
Following the INT investigation,
the World Bank referred its findings to the UK authorities, which launched their
own investigation.
According to the
World Bank Press Statement, “The actions taken by British authorities in
response to a referral from the World Bank are a clear signal that corruption
impacting development will not escape the rule of law.”
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