
UK insurer charged with bribery in Ecuador
Serious Fraud Office
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today accused a UK insurance company of failing to prevent international bribery. Representatives of United Insurance Brokers Limited (UIBL) were ordered to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court next month. The company is charged with failing to prevent associates from bribing state officials in Ecuador between October 2013 and March 2016. The SFO alleges UIBL’s US-based intermediaries for Ecuador paid bribes in return for the awarding of re-insurance contracts worth US$38 million. If this case proceeds to a contested trial, it will be the first time that an SFO “failure to prevent bribery” case is heard by a jury.