Agreement concluded between engineers and ex-engineers of SNC-Lavalin

After a process in which SNC-Lavalin has participated and collaborated, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ) announced a settlement agreement was concluded with a group of 107 engineers and former engineers of SNC-Lavalin and its subsidiaries. They were targeted by investigations opened by the Office of the Syndic of the OIQ in connection with political contributions made between 1998 and 2010. As provided in the agreement, an amount was paid to the OIQ by this group of engineers, as an amount “in lieu of a fine.” As stipulated by the Professional Code, these settlements are confidential.

Neil Bruce, president, SNC-Lavalin.

“We are pleased that this settlement was concluded,” stated Neil Bruce, president and CEO. “This agreement demonstrates, as the company frequently said, that SNC-Lavalin has always been and remains willing to enter into agreements about past issues.”

In 2012, SNC-Lavalin put in place its Policy on political contributions. Here are the main points:

• Employees are prohibited from making political contributions on behalf of SNC-Lavalin or in its name, or to use their position within the company to solicit them for the benefit of any political party or candidate in countries and regions where it is illegal to do so. The policy was further updated in July 2014, to now prohibit such political contributions on behalf of SNC-Lavalin even in regions or countries where it is allowed by law, unless express permission is given by three members of the senior management team.
• Employees may engage in political activities, or make political contributions, in their own individual capacities, on their own time and at their own expense. However, they may not use any SNC-Lavalin resources, funds or other property to do so. SNC-Lavalin will not reimburse or otherwise compensate an employee, directly or indirectly, in any form, for political contributions they make.

SNC-Lavalin has significantly toughened its ethics and compliance program over the past few years. Its measures include:

• implementation of a competitive practices policy;
• implementation of a duty to report procedure;
• appointment of compliance officers in every SNC-Lavalin business unit;
• implementation of mandatory compliance training and annual certification for all employees;
• continuous updates to our Code of Ethics, which is available in many languages;
• implementation and tightening of a policy on political contributions.

The company’s ethics and compliance program, which is based on international best practices, is divided into three categories: prevent, detect and respond. The three categories consist of actions to help ensure the company meets its commitment to ethics and compliance. The list can be found here: http://www.snclavalin.com/en/ethics-compliance/ethics-compliance-faq.aspx.