LONDON: A Canadian company that pleaded guilty to bribing late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s son to win contracts in the North African nation was granted a £1.2 million ($1.5 million) contract by the UK’s Conservative government, The Independent newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Department for Transport documents reveal that AtkinsRealis, a company formerly known as SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. that is based in Montreal, successfully bid for a contract to provide specialist technical and commercial advice to support the department’s oversight of rail fares, ticketing and retailing policy.
The business previously pleaded guilty to bribing dictator’s son Saadi Qaddafi with millions of dollars between 2001 and 2011 to win contracts in the North African nation, the Independent said.
AtkinsRealis won the contract in September 2023 and it is set to run until December 2025. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the company relating to the contract.
“The events in question occurred before 2012,” a spokesperson for AtkinsRealis’ told the Independent. “The company has transformed culturally, operationally and in its governance over the last decade, with a new leadership team and a robust and transparent integrity and compliance program recognized and independently verified by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in ethical business practices.”
The newspaper said that prior to the company’s rebranding, it was linked with historic allegations of bribery and corruption in several countries.
After winning a government contract in India in 1995 to refurbish a hydroelectric power station, it faced accusations of bribery and financial fraud. Several Indian officials were sacked following an official investigation.
More recently, four former employees of SNC-Lavalin who faced corruption allegations over their role in the construction the Padma Bridge in Bangladesh were acquitted by a Canadian Court.
The company pleaded guilty to paying $48 million in bribes to public officials in Libya to win contracts while Muammar Qaddafi was in power. In 2014, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged two former employees of bribing Libyan officials to secure deals over the course of a decade. In 2019, Canadian prosecutors said payments were directed to Saadi Qaddafi in return for him using his influence to secure construction contracts.
In response to questions about the awarding of the rail contract to AtkinsRealis, the Department for Transport told The Independent it is committed to delivering value for money for taxpayers and contracts are awarded through transparent and fair processes. The Conservative Party refused to comment.
AtkinsRealis said the company has been providing technical advice on rail fares and ticketing to the Department for Transport since 2020.
“This specialist advice has been used to support the development of fares strategies for the UK passenger rail network, including the expansion of ‘pay as you go’ ticketing, fares simplification and reform, and ticketing and retail strategies,” the spokesperson added.
UK government handed $1.5m rail contract to Canadian company that bribed Libyan dictator’s son
https://arab.news/p2gb4
UK government handed $1.5m rail contract to Canadian company that bribed Libyan dictator’s son
- The Conservative administration chose Montreal-based AtkinsRealis to provide technical and commercial advice to the Department of Transport
- The firm previously admitted bribing the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi with millions of dollars between 2001 and 2011 to win contracts
Trump calls for one year cap on credit card interest rates at 10 percent
- Trump says Americans have been ‘ripped off’ by credit card companies
- Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about rates
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was calling for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10 percent starting on January 20 but he did not provide details on how his plan will come to fruition or how he planned to make companies comply.
Trump also made the pledge during the campaign for the 2024 election that he won but analysts dismissed it at the time saying that such a step required congressional approval.
Lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican Parties have raised concerns about high rates and have called for those to be addressed. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
There have been some legislative efforts in Congress to pursue such a proposal but they are yet to become law and in his post Trump did not offer explicit support to any specific bill.
Opposition lawmakers have criticized Trump, a Republican, for not having delivered on his campaign pledge.
“Effective January 20, 2026, I, as President of the United States, am calling for a one year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates of 10 percent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, without providing more details.
“Please be informed that we will no longer let the American Public be ‘ripped off’ by Credit Card Companies,” Trump added.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on details of the call from Trump, but said on social media without elaborating that the president was capping the rates.
Some major US banks and credit card issuers like American Express, Capital One Financial Corp, JPMorgan , Citigroup and Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US Senator Bernie Sanders, a fierce Trump critic, and Senator Josh Hawley, who belongs to Trump’s Republican Party, have previously introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent for five years. This bill explicitly directs credit card companies to limit rates as part of broader consumer relief legislation.
Democratic US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna have also introduced a House of Representatives bill to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent, reflecting cross-aisle interest in addressing high rates.
Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump in the last elections, said the US president’s call was a “mistake.”
“This is a mistake,” Ackman wrote on X.
“Without being able to charge rates adequate enough to cover losses and earn an adequate return on equity, credit card lenders will cancel cards for millions of consumers who will have to turn to loan sharks for credit at rates higher than and on terms inferior to what they previously paid.”
Last year, the Trump administration moved to scrap a credit card late fee rule from the era of former President Joe Biden.
The Trump administration had asked a federal court to throw out a regulation capping credit card late fees at $8, saying it agreed with business and banking groups that alleged the rule was illegal. A federal judge subsequently threw out the rule.
