Non-Subscriber ExtractBAE Systems agrees groundbreaking transatlantic settlement |
 |
|
By Guy Anderson
05 February 2010
BAE Systems has agreed to pay fines of almost USD450 million to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to settle probes into the group's activities in international markets, thus ending almost six years of investigations.
Europe's largest defence company announced that agreements had been reached on 5 February. The agreement with the DoJ – under which BAE Systems is expected to pay a USD400 million fine; plead guilty to one charge of conspiring to make false statements to the US government in relation to regulatory filings; and make additional commitments concerning ongoing compliance – relates to an investigation commenced in 2007.
The agreement with the UK SFO, meanwhile, will see the company pay a penalty of GBP30 million (USD46.9 million) and plead guilty to one charge of breach of duty to keep accounting records in relation to payments made to a former marketing adviser in Tanzania. The GBP30 million sum covers a fine (which has yet to be determined), with the remaining to go to a charitable organisation relating to the African country.
The level of the fine will be decided by a UK court within the next two or three weeks, said BAE Systems plc Chairman Dick Olver in a press conference on 5 February.