Aziz Rahman assesses Petrofac’s admission of failing to prevent bribery

Oilfield services company Petrofac announced that it would plead guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery.

Its admission of guilt is set to end a lengthy investigation into allegations that its executives paid bribes to win contracts in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Compliance Week asked Rahman Ravelli’s Aziz Rahman for his thoughts on the latest developments in the long-running case.

Aziz said he thought it appeared unusual that Petrofac had not entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), which he said “appears to buck the recent trend for DPAs,”

He explained that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) must have had its reasons for not offering Petrofac a DPA - or for not being able to conclude one – at a time when it has been said that Petrofac is run differently to how it was at the time of the offences. Aziz added that Petrofac appears to have decided to cut its losses and move on.

Aziz's comments can be read in Compliance Week.