A Canadian public lending agency that lobbied in defence of Acres International, the first multinational to be convicted in the landmark corruption trials currently underway in the southern African state of Lesotho, has said it will not bar the Canadian engineering giant from future contracts.

NGO Working Group on Export Development Canada (EDC)

November 5, 2003

A Canadian public lending agency that lobbied in defence of Acres International, the first multinational to be convicted in the landmark corruption trials currently underway in the southern African state of Lesotho, has said it will not bar the Canadian engineering giant from future contracts.

While the World Bank is conducting a thorough investigation of the charges against Acres, Canada’s Export Development Corporation (EDC) has said it is “fully satisfied” with the management system Acres has put in place to prevent future acts of corruption.

This is the first Canadian company to be convicted outside the country since Canada got serious about corruption,” said Pam Foster, Coordinator of the Halifax Initiative, part of the NGO working group on EDC. “But this shows that Canada isn’t serious at all!” [Read the report by the NGO Working Group on EDC].

Read the EDC response to a request for clarification re its position on bribery and convicted companies: here.