French cement maker Lafarge pleads guilty to U.S. charge of supporting Islamic State

let atwWrapper,atwContainerWidth,atwSliderBox,atwTotalWidth; function initATWSlider() { atwWrapper = $('.relatedInstruments'); atwSliderBox = atwWrapper.find('.slider'); atwContainerWidth = atwWrapper.width(); atwTotalWidth = atwSliderBox.width(); if(window.domainId === '2' || window.domainId === '3'){ atwWrapper.find('.sliderRight').addClass('js-slider-prev'); atwWrapper.find('.sliderLeft').addClass('js-slider-next'); } else { atwWrapper.find('.sliderRight').addClass('js-slider-next'); atwWrapper.find('.sliderLeft').addClass('js-slider-prev'); } if(atwSliderBox.find('.instrumentBox').length > 6){ atwWrapper.find('.js-slider-next').fadeIn(600); } } function atwMoveRight() { atwWrapper.find('.js-slider-prev').fadeIn(150); $(".slider > :visible:first").hide(150) $(".slider > :visible:last").next().show(150); if(!$(".slider > :visible:last").next().find('.name')()){ atwWrapper.find('.js-slider-next').fadeOut(150); return; } } function atwMoveLeft() { atwWrapper.find('.js-slider-next').fadeIn(150); $(".slider > :visible:last").hide(150); $(".slider > :visible:first").prev().show(150); if(!$(".slider > :visible:first").prev().find('.name')()){ atwWrapper.find('.js-slider-prev').fadeOut(150); return; } } initATWSlider(); //update star icon on adding/removing instrument to/from specific watchlist atwWrapper.on('click', 'label.addRow', function() { let parent = $(this).parent(); let checkedPortfolio = false; parent.find('input[type=checkbox]').each(function () { if($(this).is(':checked')){ checkedPortfolio = true; } }); let closestStar = $(this).closest('.addToPortWrapper').find('.star'); if(checkedPortfolio){ closestStar.addClass('added'); }else{ closestStar.removeClass('added'); } }); //update star icon on creating new watchlist atwWrapper.find('.js-create-watchlist-portfolio').find('a.js-create').on('click',function () { let parent = $(this).parent(); let watchlistName = parent.find('input[type=text]').val(); if(!watchlistName){ return; } let star = $(this).closest('.addToPortWrapper').find('.star'); star.addClass('added'); }); //update star icon on adding new position atwWrapper.find('.js-create-holdings-portfolio').find('.js-submit').on('click',function () { let addPositionForm = $(this).closest('.addToPortfolioPop').find('.holdingsContent'); let amount = addPositionForm.find('.js-amount').val(); if(amount < 1){ return; } let star = $(this).closest('.addToPortWrapper').find('.star'); star.addClass('added'); }); atwWrapper.find('.instrumentBox').find('.shortInfo').on('click',function () { if(!window.ga){ return; } let pairId = $(this).parent().find('.js-add-to-portfolio').attr('data-pair-id'); let pairType = window.atwPairTypes[pairId]; window.ga('allSitesTracker.send', 'event', 'content', 'symbol link clicked', '', { "dimension147":"symbol_link_clicked", "dimension163":"click", "dimension148":"symbol", "dimension162":"content add to watchlist", "dimension161":"article page", "dimension142":"article", "dimension75":pairType, "dimension138":pairId, "dimension118":"2915004" }); window.open($(this).attr('data-href')); }); window.atwPairTypes = {"321":"Equities"};

By Luc Cohen and Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK (Reuters) -French cement maker Lafarge pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a U.S. charge that it made payments to groups designated as terrorists by the United States, including Islamic State, according to a court hearing. The admission in Brooklyn federal court marked the first time a company has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization.

Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim (SIX:HOLN) in 2015, is also facing charges of complicity in crimes against humanity in Paris for keeping a factory running in Syria after a conflict broke out in 2011.

Lafarge agreed to forfeit $687 million and pay a fine of $90 million in its guilty plea.

The cement maker previously admitted after an internal investigation that its Syrian subsidiary paid armed groups to help protect staff at the plant. But it had denied charges that it was complicit in crimes against humanity.

Lafarge Chair Magali Anderson said in court that from August 2013 until November 2014 former executives of the company "knowingly and willfully agreed to participate in a conspiracy to make and authorize payments intended for the benefit of various armed groups in Syria."

"The individuals responsible for this conduct have been separated from the company since at least 2017," she said.

In a statement, Holcim noted that none of the conduct involved Holcim, "which has never operated in Syria, or any Lafarge operations or employees in the United States, and it is in stark contrast with everything that Holcim stands for."

Holcim said that former Lafarge executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim, as well as from external auditors. Rights groups in France in 2017 accused Lafarge of paying 13 million euros ($12.79 million) to armed groups including Islamic State militants to keep operating in Syria between 2011 and 2015.

The SIX Swiss Exchange suspended trading in Holcim shares before the news.