DutchNews.nl,
Wednesday 02 April 2014
 |
A ship of SBM Offshore off the coast
of Rio de Janeiro. (NOS/SBM Offshore)
|
The
statement covers the results of an internal investigation into claims the
company bribed officials in Brazil and several African countries.
The
investigation, which was carried out by independent external counsel and
forensic accountants, focused on the period 2007 to 2011.
Payments
In Angola
and Equatorial Guinea ‘there is some evidence that payments may have been made
directly or indirectly to government officials’, the company said.
In
Equatorial Guinea, the company’s agent has repaid $10m of total payments of
$18.8m after being requested to do so. SBM Offshore is ‘unable to determine how
much, if any, of the remaining amount was paid to government officials’, the
statement said.
In Angola,
the company used multiple agents who received payments of $22.7m over the
period. It is unclear what proportion of that money may have gone on bribes,
the company said.
Brazil
In Brazil
‘there were certain red flags but the investigation did not find any credible
evidence that the company or the company’s agent made improper payments to
government officials (including state company employees),’ the statement said.
The company
paid commission of $139m to its agent in Brazil but they delivered 'substantial
and legitimate services at a time when SBM’s permanent non-operational presence
in Brazil was very limited - four people
in 2007 compared to 220 today, the statement said.
SBM
Offshore says it has tightened up its procedures since the allegations first
came to light in 2012.
Chief
executive Sietze Hepkema said in an interview with Wednesday's Financieele
Dagblad the investigation's findings are currently being discussed with Dutch
and American justice department officials.
'I am very
pleased with the conclusions about Brazil. We do a lot of business there,'
Hepkema said.
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