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The bulk of the work that they do in Canada is for the government

The chance that SNC could be barred from federal contracts has been a shock to the financial community, which widely expected the company to have its prosecution deferred.

“To call this unprecedented would be an understatement,” said Maxim Sytchev, an analyst at National Bank Financial.

SNC has been looking to avoid criminal trial on bribery and fraud charges ever since the RCMP levelled allegations against the firm in 2015.

The company’s request to negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement, or DPA, has come into focus following a report by the Globe and Mail on Thursday that suggested the Prime Minister’s Office had urged former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to issue such a deferral to the company. In October 2018, the federal director of public prosecution effectively denied the company a deferred prosecution. Wilson-Raybould was shuffled into the Veterans Affairs file in January.

DPAs effectively allow corporations to pay a fine in lieu of criminal charges, in turn allowing them to continue business operations as usual under the condition that they put corporate compliance measures in place.

SNC, led by CEO Neil Bruce, has said Ottawa should allow the company to make its case for a DPA. The firm has replaced its top management and board of directors, and has put in place reporting standards aimed at eliminating corruption, Bruce has said.

The political upheaval in Ottawa on Thursday comes amid a corporate shakeup by Bruce, who has pivoted the company toward infrastructure projects in recent years, and away from oil and gas.