The Council on Ethics recommends that its observation of the Canadian company Bombardier Inc (Bombardier) be discontinued, as the Council considers that the risk of gross corruption in the company’s operations no longer is unacceptable.
Bombardier is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of private jets. In March 2022, the company was placed under observation based on the fact that Bombardier or its subsidiaries could be linked to allegations or suspicions of corruption in six countries over a period of more than ten years. In its assessment of future risk, the Council attached importance to multiple deficiencies in the company’s follow-up of corruption risk. This included top management’s lack of communication of zero tolerance for corruption, as well as inadequate third-party assessments and follow-up of when corruption was reported. In June 2024, it was decided to extend the observation. The reason for this was that the company, in the Council’s view, did not share sufficient information about its compliance systems.
To the best of the Council’s knowledge, the most recent serious allegation or suspicion of corruption or other financial crime related to Bombardier’s operations is from 2016. This is now ten years ago. Although the company has, in the Council’s view, not shared detailed information about its compliance systems, enough time has nevertheless passed since these circumstances for the Council to consider this to be an indication that the risk is no longer unacceptable.