'Complacency' over foreign bribery

An international watchdog ordered an exceptional review of the UK's anti-bribery measures following the decision by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in 2006 to drop an investigation into BAE Systems over an arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) working group on bribery has spent three days discussing the review in Paris and is due to publish its recommendations.

Sources said a draft report was "quite nasty", adding: "Usually these things are couched in very diplomatic language, but this time it looks as though the velvet gloves have come off."

The report is expected to attack the UK's record in prosecuting companies and individuals who have paid bribes to foreign public officials.

But Laurence Cockroft, UK chairman of anti-corruption campaigners Transparency International, said that should come as no surprise.

Mr Cockroft said: "The UK is far from a leading force in anti-corruption. There has only been one serious investigation and one prosecution in the UK to date in comparison to 105 by the USA, 43 by Germany and 19 by France since the 1997 OECD anti-bribery convention came into force. The facts are plain to see, more prosecutions are needed to send out the right message to businesses. The UK must not be a hotbed for corrupt practices."

Mr Cockroft added that a critical report would "further expose the UK's complacency over its failure to take international corruption seriously".

The OECD usually carries out reviews on members every two years, but decided to undertake an extra investigation of the UK's enforcement of the anti-bribery convention following the controversial BAE decision.

Earlier this year the Law Lords ruled the SFO had acted lawfully when it halted its investigation into bribery allegations relating to the arms deal on the grounds of national security.