By Ryan Hewlett

April 17 - (The Insurer) - An entity relating to Lloyd’s broker United Insurance Brokers Limited (UIBL) has been charged by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office over alleged bribes paid to officials in Ecuador.

The SFO said on Thursday that it had charged UIBL with failing to prevent associates from bribing state officials in Ecuador between October 2013 and March 2016.

UIBL is the head office of London-headquartered UIB Holdings (UIB Group). The privately-owned group, formed in 1987 through a management buyout from Marsh McLennan Middle East, serves clients in 85 countries and has offices in 17 countries worldwide.

Representatives of the broker have ordered to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 7 to face the charges.

The SFO alleges UIBL’s US-based intermediaries for bribes paid in Ecuador in return for the awarding of (re)insurance contracts worth $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, the SFO said in a statement on Thursday.

The SFO said the UIBL offered reinsurance coverages to state insurers covering parts of the Ecuadorian public sector, including state water and electricity companies. These coverages insured the primary insurers against losses caused by making significant and unexpected payouts, it said.

The UK fraud watchdog alleges that UIBL received $6.2 million in commission to provide these reinsurance services, of which $3.2 million was allegedly paid to intermediaries to bribe Ecuadorian officials in return for the award of a contract worth $38 million.

Nick Ephgrave, director of the Serious Fraud Office, said: “The SFO remains committed to stamping out international bribery wherever it may occur.

“British companies have a duty to prevent the harm caused by bribery when doing business at home and abroad, to ensure that the UK remains a safe and fair place to do business.”

Lloyd’s oldest trading broker Tysers and HW Wood formally resolved investigations by the US Department of Justice in November 2023 over bribes paid to Ecuadorian officials to secure reinsurance business from state-owned insurers.

Tysers and HW Wood paid bribes totalling $2.8 million between 2013 and 2017 to the then chairman of two Ecuadorian state-owned insurance companies, Seguros Sucre SA and Seguros Rocafuerte SA, and three other Ecuadorian officials.

The UK Serious Fraud Office closed its own investigation into the claims earlier in 2023 and communicated that it had decided not to take any action against Tysers and Integro in respect of the alleged conduct.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority fined JLT Specialty in 2022 over financial crime control failings related to actions that took place in Ecuador between 2014 and 2016 for business placed through its Colombian operations.

UIB Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.