The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has started a formal investigation into bribery and corruption allegations at Rolls-Royce.The claims first came to light a year ago when the SFO ordered the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines to conduct an inquiry and hand over details of possible wrongdoing in China, Indonesia and other markets.
“We have been informed by the Serious Fraud Office that it has now commenced a formal investigation into these matters,” Rolls-Royce said on Monday.
Last December, the company said it was co-operating with regulators relating to allegations of malpractice involving intermediaries in Indonesia and China.
The aerospace and defence group said then it had “identified matters of concern in these, and in other overseas markets.”
Shares in the company, which operates in more than 50 countries across the world, were 0.2% down in the minutes following the announcement.
The group, which has major sites at Derby and Bristol and employs around 45,000 people, appointed veteran lawyer Lord Gold last year to review the company’s compliance procedures in the wake of the claims.
In March, the company appointed BP director Ian Davis, a former managing director of management consultancy McKinsey & Co, as chairman.
Source: SKY News
