IBM Says Ban Lifted on New U.S. Govt Contracts

NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) – International BusinessMachines Corp (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency has agreed to lift a temporary order that hadbarred the company from seeking new government contracts.

IBM, the world’s largest provider of computer services,said in a statement it can immediately resume participating innew contracts with all federal agencies, ending a suspensionthat began on Mar. 27.

The EPA is investigating whether IBM violated ethicalbidding provisions when it made an $80 million bid in March2006 to modernize the agency’s financial systems. An IBMspokesman said on Monday the case stemmed from informationprovided by an EPA employee to IBM employees.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District ofVirginia has also served IBM with grand jury subpoenasrequesting testimony and documents on interactions between theEPA and IBM employees.

IBM said it will continue to cooperate with the ongoingprobe.(Reporting by Tiffany Wu, editing by Dave Zimmerman)