The World Bank Group has placed a ban on Zoomlion Ghana Limited for two years over alleged bribery in Liberia. The bribery allegation involved the World Bank-financed Emergency Monrovia Urban Sanitation Project. According to a report published on the World Bank's website, Zoomlion paid bribes to facilitate contract execution and processing of invoices. Accordingly, Zoomlion will not qualify for any contract financed by the World Bank Group for a period of two years. The two-year ban took effect on September 24, 2013. The World Bank said Zoomlion needed to demonstrate full and satisfactory compliance with the World Bank Integrity standards in order for the ban to be lifted. The bank said Zoomlion had itself acknowledged wrongdoing and had accepted full responsibility. “This is a case where a company under a World Bank investigation is demonstrating responsibility for wrongdoing by enforcing disciplinary action and committing to a new standard of integrity governing its operations,” said Leonard McCarthy, World Bank Integrity Vice President. “Promoting this type of corporate responsibility while holding companies accountable for wrongdoing is one of the strategic pillars of the World Bank’s anti-corruption strategy,". Zoomlion’s debarment 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 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.