"plot thickens" for defence contractor

COMMENT Under a section called "corporate misbehaviour" the Economist notes that scandal exposes UK laws against corruption as less than effective. A UK weapons company paid more than US$2 billion in bribes to Saudi Arabia monarchs purchasing arms from one of its main oil clients. "Payments made after 1998, when Britain ratified an OECD convention against bribing foreign officials, would be embarrassing for Mr Blair's government. Even worse would be handouts after 2001, when a law enshrining the convention was passed. Early this year the OECD declared itself disappointed with the feebleness of Britain's law and the lack of political will to prosecute offenders," reports the Economist. Britain's agreement to the OECD convention came some twenty years after similar laws were passed in the United States. BAE and Saudi Arabia | The plot thickens | Economist.com