Bribery, corruption expert applauds Niko Resources fine
Posted Jun 26, 2011 11:40 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An international expert in bribery and corruption compliance is applauding a multi-million dollar fine levied against Calgary-based Niko Resources for bribing a minister in Bangladesh.
Alexandra Wrage, the President of the anti-bribery organization TRACE, says Canada lags behind other countries in cracking down on corruption cases.
This past Friday, Niko was fined $9.5 million for buying off a minister with a lavish vehicle, as well as trips to Calgary and New York. The Bangladeshi minister was in charge of compensation for villagers in a 2005, Niko well blowout that damaged a village.
Wrage tells the Calgary Herald, one isolated prosecution won’t change the business culture in this country. Before the Niko prosecution, there was only one other similar prosecution involving Red Deer-based Hydro Kleen Systems in 2005.
Wrage adds that to stop the practice, companies need to hire chief compliance officers, something Niko has vowed to do.
