[LIS-Forum] subsidiaries of OUP in Africa have been debarred

[T. Shahab]

Dear all,
This is a very interesting piece of information about probity in business transaction. Whereas on one hand, the authorities in World Bank deserve much praise for upholding the high standard of integrity in business around the globe, the giant publishers like OUP deserve round of odium for their nefarious practices. It has been rightly commented that such sort of malpractices are not very uncommon in books/journals purchase decision making process in India. In fact, very often the post of Librarian become a bone of contention on account of the pecuniary interest attached to it. 
I may recall such a matter of malpractice that has taken place in the Jamia Hamdard Central library not very long back. It so happened that book suppliers/vendors used to directly approach the faculty members and get their books, etc recommended. The teachers would write one or two copies in digit only in front of the list of recommendations prepared by the vendors themselves. The teachers didn't cross the non-recommended items. The vendors would bring those list to the Acquisition Division for follow-up action. After sometimes, it was noticed that some vendors were inflating the number of recommended copies by either willfully prefixing/suffixing some digits of their choice and also were bringing those books which were not actually recommended by teachers by act of manipulation. 
A Book Purchase Enquiry Committee was constituted by the University Authority. Three Book Suppliers/Vendors were identified during the course of investigation who were found manipulating the number of recommended copies. They were made to return the money ( in lacs) for supplying more than the recommended copies. Those books which were already cataloged were treated as gifted and proper financial settlement were made accordingly. The defaulter vendors were blacklisted. 
As a follow-up, the Acquisition system has been modified. Now, only registered vendors can take orders. All recommendations have to be countersigned by the Head of a Department and the Dean of the concerned Faculty. The Library has circulated a Performa for recommendation. The recommendation shall be send only through official channel. To avoid any improper recommendation, the recommended lists are sent to the indenting Head of Department to obtain their countersign before the books being put to processing. 
Another malpractice was noted regarding the statement of edition and price proof of a book. Book suppliers have been asked to bring original proof for edition and prices which are counterchecked by the Acquisition staff online. We also re-check conversion rate in case of foreign publications.
Yet, we are unlikely to claim our system fool proof. It has been reported by book suppliers that some faculty members force them to provide free copies of costly books for their personal use which they are bound to recover by employing nefarious trade practices.
Regards
Dr. T. Shahab
HMSCL, Jamia Hamdard University
New Delhi

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Subject: [LIS-Forum] subsidiaries of OUP in Africa have been debarred

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Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2012 08:55:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Subbiah Arunachalam <subbiah_a at yahoo.com>

Two subsidiaries of OUP in Africa have been debarred for three years by the World Bank for misconduct, and earlier, Macmillan Publishers was fined and debarred in Sudan for six years for corrupt practices, says a report. 
But such practices, I am told, are common in India. Are you aware of such practices in India? Please write about them in this list. 

Subbiah Arunachalam

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/51899

The World Bank Group today announced the debarment of two wholly-owned subsidiaries of Oxford University Press (OUP), namely: Oxford University Press East Africa Limited (OUPEA) and Oxford University Press Tanzania Limited (OUPT) - for a period of three years following OUP’s acknowledgment of misconduct by its two subsidiaries in relation to two Bank-financed education projects in East Africa.

The debarment is part of a Negotiated Resolution Agreement between OUP and the World Bank Group.  In May 2011, investigators from the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) approached OUP about potential misconduct in Africa.  Following this, OUP conducted an internal investigation into its operations and reported its findings to INT.

“This debarment is testimony to the Bank’s continued commitment to protecting the integrity of its projects.  OUP’s acknowledgment of misconduct and the thoroughness of its investigation is evidence of how companies can address issues of fraud and corruption and change their corporate practices to foster integrity in the development business.  In this case, working with the Serious Fraud Office also demonstrates the scope of collective action in deterring corruption impacting the progress of development,” said Leonard McCarthy, World Bank Integrity Vice President.

The two companies made improper payments to government officials for two contracts to supply text books in relation to two World Bank-financed projects. Â As a result, OUPEA and OUPT will be debarred for three years and OUP will receive a conditional non-debarment. In addition, in order to remedy part of the harm done by the misconduct, OUP has agreed to make a payment of US$500,000 to the World Bank as part of the Negotiated Resolution.

Under the Agreement, OUP and its related undertakings, including OUPEA and OUPT,commit to cooperate with the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency and continue to improve their internal compliance program.
The debarment of OUPEA and OUPT qualifies for cross-debarment by other MDBs under the Agreement of Mutual Recognition of Debarments that was signed on April 9, 2010.

About The World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency (INT)

The World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) is responsible for preventing, deterring and investigating allegations of fraud, collusion and corruption in World Bank projects, capitalizing on the experience of a multilingual and highly specialized team of investigators and forensic accountants. Key results of INT’s work
include:

83 debarments of firms and individuals for engaging in wrongdoing during this fiscal year

Following Alstom’s acknowledgment of misconduct in relation to a Bank-financed hydropower project in Zambia, the World Bank debarred Alstom Hydro France and Alstom Network Schweiz AG (Switzerland) - in addition to their affiliates - for a period of three years as part of a Negotiated Resolution Agreement between Alstom and the World Bank which also includes a restitution payment by the two companies totaling approximately $9.5 million.

Based on an INT referral, UK authorities ordered Macmillan Publishers Limited to pay over £11 million. WBG debarred Macmillan for 6 years (2010), for bribery linked to an education project in Sudan.

The Norwegian Authorities also took prosecutorial action against three former employees of “Norconsult,” based on an INT referral.

The second meeting of the International Corruption Hunters Alliance brought together 175 senior enforcement and anticorruption officials from 6 regions, to inject momentum into global anti-corruption efforts.

A functional cross-debarment agreement among the Multilateral Development Banks so that companies debarred by the Bank Group can no longer seek business from other multilateral development banks (MDBs), closing a loophole in multilateral development programs

Cooperation agreements in support of parallel investigations, asset recovery and information sharing with the UK Serious Fraud Office, the European Anti-Fraud Office, Interpol, the International Criminal Court, USAID, the Australian Agency for International Development, the UN Office for Internal Oversight and several national authorities

Enhanced preventive training and forensic audits designed to identify and address red flags and integrity controls in World Bank projects.

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