BAE Report Recommends Writing Comprehensive Code of Ethics
May 12th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsEurope’s largest defense contractor is urged to adopt measures that will prevent graft
LONDON
A review of business practices at giant British defense firm BAE Systems Plc. has called for a tough code of ethics.
Forbes reports that an independent committee organized to recommend reforms urged the firm to publish a global ethics code and to reinforce anti-bribery measures.
The panel, chaired by prominent British jurist Lord Woolf, was formed at the request of the company’s board a year ago in the wake of a scandal fueled by allegations that BAE’s multi-billion-dollar arms trade with Saudi Arabia was propelled by bribery, according to a report from the Economist.
BAE had denied it was involved in bribery.
Other recommendations, reports intelligence and weaponry journal Jane’s, include a mandatory ethics training program for every employee. A senior executive also should be given responsibility for the ethics program, the report recommends.
In addition, the report calls on BAE to implement a more rigorous system to select advisers to help negotiate contracts in various nations. The Times of London reports that the Woolf committee wants face-to-face interviews with advisers, with a company lawyer present, and full public disclosure of advisers’ identities.
British authorities had been formally investigating bribery allegations but that probe was halted after the government said that further scrutiny would endanger national security.
Sources: Jane’s, May 10 — Forbes, May 9 — Economist, May 9 — Times of London, May 7.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Apr. 14 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 22 — Related Newsline story, July 30, 2007 — Related Newsline story, May 14, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 18, 2006.
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