John Wood Group PLC confirms that Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Limited (AFWEL) has entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (‘DPA’) with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (‘SFO’) following its approval by Lord Justice Edis.
This follows the preliminary approval announced on June 25th and formalises the company’s resolution with the SFO concerning the use of third-party agents for bribery and corruption in the legacy Foster Wheeler business.
The DPA covers conduct in five jurisdictions - Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, India and Brazil - over the period 1996 to 2014, before Amec plc acquired Foster Wheeler and prior to the combined firm’s acquisition by Wood in October 2017.
The DPA only relates to the potential criminal liability of AFWEL and does not address whether liability of any sort attaches to any employee, agent, former employee or former agent of AFWEL. Reporting restrictions apply such that Wood is not able to provide any further details of the conduct.
The terms of the three-year DPA and the remediation actions Wood has already taken are as outlined in the company’s market announcement on June 25th.
Robin Watson, Chief Executive, Wood, said: “Receipt of judicial approval in the UK officially concludes the investigations into legacy Amec Foster Wheeler. We are pleased to have resolved these historical issues, which pre-date our acquisition of the business in 2017, and can now look to the future.”