New Head of Troubled British Defense Firm Promises Focus on Ethics
Jun 30th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsBAE Systems is facing bribery allegations; CEO Ian King says first order of business will be addressing problems cited in recent ethics report
LONDON
The new chief executive of British defense contractor BAE Systems promised a break from the company’s troubled history, according to press reports last week.
The U.K. Guardian reports that new BAE Systems CEO Ian King, promoted from his post as the company’s chief operating officer, will assume as his first task the process of addressing a major report that recommended sweeping changes in the firm’s ethics.
Harry Woolf, a former British law lord hired by BAE to chair an independent committee, said the firm had not paid enough attention to ethics, making 23 specific recommendations for bolstering best practices and avoiding bribery, reports the International Herald Tribune.
Among other current problems, BAE faces an upcoming hearing into whether the government should resume a probe of allegations of impropriety in arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The original investigation was halted in 2006, reports the Times of London, over the government’s fears that it would endanger national security.
Also, reports the Financial Times, the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a separate investigation into whether U.S. bribery laws were breached. BAE has denied wrongdoing.
Sources: Financial Times, June 28 — Times of London, June 27 — International Herald Tribune, June 27 — Guardian, June 27.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, May 12 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 14 — Related Newsline story, July 30, 2007 — Related Newsline story, May 14, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 18, 2006.
Print This Story
Email This Story
[...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 30 — Related Newsline story, June 16 — Related Newsline story, May 12 [...]