See you in court

摘要

Prosecution of bae Systems, Europe's biggest defence contractor, for alleged bribery came a step nearer on Octo-ber 1st when the Serious Fraud Office (sfo) said it was referring the case to the attorney-general for permission to proceed. The sfo had been pressing bae for an admission of guilt and a payment believed to be between £500m ($795m) and £1 billion for its dealings with officials in countries thought to include the Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa and Tanzania. The company has co-operated with the sfo but finally refused the deal, judging the figure too high and the case too weak.