Aandeel SBM Offshore AEX:SBMO.NL, NL0000360618

quote:

Kopermans schreef op 19 maart 2015 09:40:

Het risico op een bijkomende financiële last voor SBM in het kader van de schikking in Brazilië is dus beperkt tot maximaal 343 – 137 = 206 mio $.

Het kan echter ook 0 $ bedragen.[/i]

quote:

RT2014 schreef op 19 maart 2015 12:31:

Leuk speurwerk, maar je juridische aannames kloppen niet. SBM heeft een schikking getroffen; er is geen rechtszaak geweest waarbij SBM is veroordeeld tot afgifte van wederrechtelijk verkregen voordeel. Art. 577b Sv is dus niet van toepassing. Ergo, de $240mln zit stevig in de zak van de Nederlandse overheid.

quote:

RT2014 schreef op 19 maart 2015 12:31:

Leuk speurwerk, maar je juridische aannames kloppen niet. SBM heeft een schikking getroffen; er is geen rechtszaak geweest waarbij SBM is veroordeeld tot afgifte van wederrechtelijk verkregen voordeel. Art. 577b Sv is dus niet van toepassing. Ergo, de $240mln zit stevig in de zak van de Nederlandse overheid.

quote:

RT2014 schreef op 19 maart 2015 12:31:

Leuk speurwerk, maar je juridische aannames kloppen niet. SBM heeft een schikking getroffen; er is geen rechtszaak geweest waarbij SBM is veroordeeld tot afgifte van wederrechtelijk verkregen voordeel. Art. 577b Sv is dus niet van toepassing. Ergo, de $240mln zit stevig in de zak van de Nederlandse overheid.

quote:

Kopermans schreef op 19 februari 2015 09:10:

Geen zaken in Brazilië zonder hiervoor af te dragen.

Modec staat als leverancier van Petrobras op gelijke hoogte met SBM. Modec heeft 7 FPSO's voor Petrobras gebouwd, en werkt nog aan drie nieuwe. Gelijkaardige tussenkomst ook van de handelsagent van Modec. Hemelsbreed verschil is echter dat SBM sinds 2012 de problematiek van de zelfstandige handelsagenten zelf heeft aangepakt, en met de gevonden informatie naar de autoriteiten en, vooral, naar Petrobras is gestapt. Petrobras speelt overigens de verantwoordelijkheid voor het gebeuren door naar BG, dat hier als operator voor het consortium optrad.

Het artikel van Valor Economico bestaat ook in een Engelse versie:

BG investigates indications of irregularities in projects
By Cláudia Schüffner | Rio de Janeiro

With the advance of investigations surrounding the bribery schemes at Petrobras, partners of the state company have begun to be affected by the corruption discovered during the Federal Police’s Operation Car Wash.

BG is partner of Petrobras in blocks BM-S-9 and BM-S-11

Valor has learned that the compliance department for the British company BG found so-called “red-flags,” signs requiring special attention, in contracts for construction of oil rigs for pre-salt exploration.

They are contracts signed between Petrobras and Japan’s Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Co. Ltd. (Modec), having Tecnoil as a commercial agent. BG operates in five large pre-salt discovery areas of Santos, with stakes varying between 25% and 30%.

According to two sources heard by Valor, the director of BG’s legal department, Rodrigo Moura, and the legal manager of the company, Bruno Silveira, met, in January, with executives from Modec, in Rio de Janeiro. According to the sources, BG has requested that the Japanese company respond to a questionnaire, and Modec, for its part, acknowledged the payment of “fees” of its agent in Brazil to Petrobras employees. BG, according to these reports, informed that Modec no longer met governance criteria.

Questioned, BG answered “the information related to our internal compliance processes are protected by confidentiality obligations of the consortium and follow standard procedures of the company and, therefore, can’t be discussed.” There are indications that the case is similar to that of the Dutch oil-service provider SBM, which admitted it made payments to the companies of Julio Faerman, confirmed in the plea-bargaining of Petrobras former executive manager of engineering Pedro Barusco, subordinated to former services director Renato Duque.

BG is a partner of Petrobras in the blocks BM-S-9 and BM-S-11, in the pre-salt fields of the Santos Basin such as Lula, Lapa, Guará-Sapinhoá, Carioca and Iracema South and North. On the website of Modec, the company lists 10 FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offshore) for Petrobras, with three still under construction. Some are destined to areas that the state company operates on its own and others where it has partners.

As a partner of Petrobras in these areas, BG participated in the acquisition of the following oil rgs ordered from Modec: Angra dos Reis, São Paulo, Mangaratiba, Itaguaí e Caraguatatuba.

Valor requested information from Petrobras on the amount ordered from Modec, but the company responded that “it can’t comment on contracts” because “they are protected by confidentiality obligations.”
In testimony to Congress on Petrobras last year, former Petrobras CEO Graça Foster gave the price of one of them: Cidade de São Paulo, chartered to Petrobras by Schahin/Modec, will cost $4.2 billion along the 20-year contract. Ms. Foster informed that the contracts with Modec and with SBM, its main competitor, were similar (there were 8 platforms leased from each on that occasion). And she also said that the portfolio with SBM is $27.67 billion. The amount gives an idea, therefore, of the seize of the state-run company’s contracts with Modec.

Petrobras denied that it had knowledge of the irregularities with these contracts. And it clarified that “BG acts as a non-operator in the consortia BM-S-11 and BM-S-9, operated by Petrobras. In the consortium relationship, it’s up to the operator to conduct activities, including procedures for contracting services and materials needed in operations. The agreements should be approved by the non-operating partners.”

According to Petrobras, “in these processes, it’s common that there are discussions related to various aspects of the contracts, such as deadlines, costs, terms of contract, and compliance conformity. In this context, there are frequently meetings for clarification between the consortium and the supply companies.”

The acquisition of pre-salt equipment is made by Petrobras, which is the operator for the areas, and is carried out by way of special purpose enterprises (SPE). And the partners vary. Guará BV has as partners PNBV, a Petrobras subsidiary with 45%. BG Overseas Holdings with 30%, and Repsol Sinopec Brasil BV, with 25%, and was responsible for the contracts of the oil rigs Cidade de São Paulo and and Cidade de Caraguatatuba, as Petrobras reported. Another SPE, Tupi BV, has stake in PNBV (65%), BG Overseas (25%) and the Chinese-Portuguese company Galp Sinopec Brazil Services BV (10%), in the cases of Cidade de Mangaratiba and Cidade de Itaguaí.

Repsol informed that it is unaware of the subject. In an interview with Valor, the Portuguese company Galp Energia CEO, Manuel Ferreira De Oliveira, said that it’s “up to the Brazilian authorities to conduct the investigations, not owing to me to make speculation on these matters.”

According to specialized attorneys, even those that had participated involuntarily in payment of bribes, had the duty to analyze the projects in which they invest. Because of this, they are subject to penalty under anti-corruption legislation, such as the federal law that deals with foreign corruption, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), in the US, where the state-owned company is listed. Asked if there is some governance procedure in course, Petrobras’s press office answered only: “Recently, clarifications were requested and meetings with suppliers of consortia were held, among them Modec, in the manner foreseen under contract concerning preventative aspects of compliances. This process is led by Petrobras, in the role of operator, with participation from companies of the consortia.”

According to the statement from BG Brasil, the company “follows the global standards of Corporate Governance and of Compliance of the Ethical Conduct Policy of the BG Group in all of its activities.” Valor also sought the commercial director of Tecnoil, Andre Somaglino, but received no reply. Until the closing of this edition, Modec hadn’t responded to questions sent by this newspaper.

quote:

Bokie schreef op 19 maart 2015 15:00:

[...]
En wat houdt dit nu in. Dat Modeq door Petrobas niet aangepakt wordt en dat ze dus niet geschorst worden.

quote:

Kopermans schreef op 19 maart 2015 15:33:

Roussef heeft gisteren een presidentieel decreet getekend tot uitvoering van de Anticorruptiewet. Dat werkt heel wat grote onzekerheden in de Anticorruptiewet weg, en geeft uitzonderlijk veel bevoegdheid aan het CGU.

Het CGU kan alle zaken naar zich toe trekken waarin het gaat over handelingen ten nadele van eigen of vreemde overheden. Ook zaken die het OM of de CADE (mededingingsautoriteit) in behandeling hebben.

En dan de hamvraag: wie sluit de schikkingen af, wie beslist of het goed (genoeg) is? Het CGU, zonder dat andere organen in die beslissing tussenkomen.

Het TCU en het OM die erg kritisch waren over het perspectief dat het CGU, en dus eigenlijk de regering, schikkingen zou sluiten, worden enkel betrokken bij de onderhandeling.

Een schadevergoeding voor Petrobras die nu zeker verrekend zal worden met wat in Nederland betaald wordt (zie hoger), geen negatieve reacties op de onderhandeling over een schikking met SBM en een beslissingsbevoegdheid die volledig bij het CGU en dus de regering ligt: de weg ligt wijd open voor deze schikking met SBM.

Uit een interview in Estadao met een specialist ter zake:
“With a single regulator (…), the conflict of interest does not exist, which gives stability to the processes. (…)

In establishing the CGU as watchdog and judge, the decree gave the hegemony to the CGU to bind (together) other processes by other organs, such as the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE = de Mededingingsautoriteit) and the Public Ministry (MP), which is positive, according to the expert .

"The practices investigated in Operation Lava Jato, for example, combine cartel with corruption. This could bring a dispute with the association of undertakings for business advantage versus the use of corrupt practices, "he says. "The decree brings calm in the dispute of competences," adds Reggio. (…)

“Under the (new decree) it is the sole power of the CGU to initiate, investigate and prosecute acts detrimental to national and foreign governments and to call back processes in order to investigate their regularity or to correct their management”.

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