Financial Times FT.com

Warning over UK’s overseas bribes culture

By Michael Peel, Legal Correspondent

Published: October 17 2008 04:11 | Last updated: October 17 2008 04:11

British business will be issued with an unprecedented corruption health warning on Friday by leading industrialised nations angry at London’s failure to combat corporate foreign bribery, the Financial Times has learned.

The proposals will be part of a stinging attack by the anti-bribery group of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, following outrage over Britain’s handling of an abortive investigation into BAE Systems’ Saudi Arabian arms deals and other cases of suspected corruption. The OECD group will warn that companies doing business with Britain risk legal and reputational damage because of the lax anti-bribery law and enforcement, people briefed on the discussions say.

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