Bain & Co weighs up legal action against UK government over contract ban
Bain & Co is considering taking legal action against the UK government after Britain banned the US consultancy from competing for contracts over its role in alleged “state capture and corruption by the South African government”.
The US consultancy is considering “all options” including launching a judicial review, in a bid to overturn the UK government’s three-year block on it tendering for contracts, according to the Financial Times.
The plans come after Cabinet Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg told Bain on Tuesday it would be barred from competing for government contracts for three years, over the supposed part it played in aiding Jacob Zuma and his associates in capturing South Africa’s revenues service.
Rees-Mogg’s letter came after veteran anti-apartheid campaigner Lord Peter Hain led calls for Bain to be blacklisted over the scandal, which allegedly saw former South African president Jacob Zuma work to undermine South Africa’s revenue service in his efforts to avoid the tax collector’s scrutiny.
Following a review of evidence from a South African inquiry, Rees-Mogg determined Bain & Co is “guilty of grave professional misconduct,” as he advised the Cabinet Office and all other government departments to “exclude” the Boston consulting firm.
Cabinet Offices official had initially recommended that no action be taken against Bain & Co. The ban however came after Rees-Mogg made a personal intervention into the case, after reading more than a thousand pages of documents obtaining advice from an external Queen’s Counsel.
A Bain spokesperson said: “We are responding to the Cabinet Office to express our concern about the process and its outcome, as well as to address material inaccuracies in the Minister’s letter setting out his decision. We are considering all options for review of the decision.”