
Colette Kelly Partner, Criminal and Regulatory Solicitor
Serious Fraud Office awards bribery compensation for Nigerian infrastructure
We previously reported on the DPA entered into between the SFO and Amec relating to the use of corrupt agents in the oil and gas sector. The timing of the agreement was particularly significant, as it came on the tenth anniversary of the Bribery Act 2010 and was the tenth DPA entered into by the SFO. As part of the DPA, we reported that Amec had agreed to pay a financial penalty to authorities in the UK, US and Brazil, including compensation to the people of Nigeria.
The compensation payment announced will provide suitable recompense to the people of Nigeria in relation to what Lord Justice Edis determined to be a “direct” loss tax revenue, which was evaded by the use of bribes paid by Amec to Nigerian officials.
The funds shall be used by the Federal Government of Nigeria exclusively for financing three infrastructure projects, namely: (i) Lagos to Ibadan Expressway; (ii) Abuja to Kano Road; and (iii) the Second Niger Bridge.
It is unusual for an SFO award of compensation to have been made to overseas victims of corruption. This is only the second time that an SFO DPA has included compensation for foreign victims of corruption, with the first delivering compensation to the Government of Tanzania after a 2015 DPA with Standard Bank.
Without a doubt, energy companies operate globally across commercially and politically challenging countries, with their actions having a real impact on that country's democracy and security risk. It seems likely that despite this being the first DPA against an energy company, similar action and compensation measures could be put in place against other corporates operating in the high-risk sector, benefiting overseas victims of corruption.
12-05-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure
Refund guarantees are often described as the cornerstones to shipbuilding projects and the buyer’s main security. Although they do not strictly form part of the shipbuilding contract, a shipbuilding project is unlikely to go ahead at all without one. It is therefore important to understand the different types of guarantee instruments, and the impact each has in practice on the guarantor’s obligations to pay and the buyer’s entitlement to recovery. A well-drafted guarantee provides certainty to the parties and strikes a balance between their respective entitlements and obligations.
04-04-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure
Estoppel is a useful tool in litigation, which is usually used to bind one party to a statement or a promise that it has previously expressed causing another to accept or adopt it for the purpose of their legal relations. The Court’s recent ruling in Geoquip Marine Operations AG v (1) Tower Resources Cameroon SA (2) Tower Resources PLC addresses estoppel by convention and recognises the requirement for the common assumption created between the parties to be clear and unequivocal. In this article, we focus on the specifics of the Court decision.
29-03-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure
On 24 March 2022, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of a second man, Paul Bond, prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation to alleged wrongdoing by Unaoil.
08-03-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure
As we approach the second anniversary of Covid-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 11 March 2020, a number of judgments are coming out of the English Courts which are providing useful guidance on how the English Courts are treating claims concerning Covid-19, especially in a force majeure context.
02-03-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure
R (Finch) v Surrey County Council CA (Civ Div) [2022] EWCA Civ 187 “The task of the court in a claim such as this is only to decide the issues of law. Those issues cannot extend into the realm of political judgment – which is the responsibility of the executive, not the courts …”
28-02-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure
With companies racing to make sense of and take steps towards a net-zero future, an array of climate goals are being published at ever increasing speed; it remains to be seen how achievable many of these goals are without concrete plans in place. Accusations of ‘climate-washing’ are rife and statements have been legally challenged. Current investigations and actions show the direction of travel as pressure groups and public organisations seek to hold private sector companies to account.