The firm must take bolder action if it is to lose the whiff of corruption
LIKE the jet fighters it builds--wraithlike in the air yet with a surprising ability to shrug off battle damage--BAE Systems has proved adept at surviving hostile fire. The most recent test for Britain's biggest defence firm came on April 10th, when a high court lambasted the government and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for dropping in December 2006 an investigation into alleged bribes relating to the company's longstanding [pounds sterling]43 billion ($85 billion at today's rates) arms deal with Saudi Arabia.
As Britain's gumshoes circled their Swiss bank accounts that year, Saudi officials ...