Recent Debarments Highlight Growing Risk of Sanctions By Multilateral Development Banks

Timothy D Belevetzis a Partner in our Washington DC office .

Eric S Crusius is a Partner in our Tysons office.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Companies that operate globally face substantial risks associated with activities funded by multilateral development banks (MDBs).
• Several recent debarment actions by the World Bank highlight those risks.
• To address such risks, companies should conduct risk assessments and try to minimize any risks identified.

Companies that receive or enter into contracts on projects financed by loans from multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank, and engage in corrupt practices face the risk of significant and potentially debilitating sanctions, including debarment. Recent high-profile debarment actions highlight that risk.