Britain's Serious Fraud Office Launches Investigation of Foreign Bribery

The Times of London reports (here) that the Serious Fraud Office is looking at possible bribery involving "Robert Lee International, Travellers World and BAE, in connection with defence equipment contracts and the Saudi Arabian Government."  A report issued earlier this year (here) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) criticized the British government for not taking a more active role in implementing the OECD's anti-corruption covention, which largely parallels the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by prohibiting the payment of bribes to obtain or keep overseas business contracts.  The disclosure of the investigations may be a result of the OECD's prodding, and an earlier post (here) discussed articles in the New York Times on the effects of corruption in Latin America and Africa. (ph)