Global Compliance
{GLOBAL GLIMPSES}
By Neil Baker obtains the consent that he seeks from the that plea and sentenced the company.
attorney general and proceedings are com- The company admitted that it paid $1.6
C ompliance Week publishes “Global
Glimpses,” a blog of governance
news worldwide. To see the blog online,
menced, the company will deal with issues
raised in those proceedings at the appropri-
ate time and, if necessary, in court.” ■
million to foreign politicians and officials
to get export orders valued at $95 million
to $111 million through covert middlemen.
view primary source documents, and par- It also broke United Nations sanctions by
ticipate in the discussion, please visit www. illegally paying approximately $576,000 to
complianceweek.com/blog/glimpses. Britain Extends Protections Saddam Hussein’s government from 2001
to 2002. It was fined $5.5 million and or-
for Fraud Whistleblowers dered to pay a $1.7 million confiscation or-
BAE Plea Deadline Expires B ritain is extending its whistleblower
protection laws to employees who re-
der to the United Nations Iraq fund and the
Jamaican and Ghanaian governments and
B ritain’s Serious Fraud Office has said it
will seek to prosecute BAE Systems for
offenses related to overseas corruption after
port concerns to the country’s auditing and
financial reporting watchdogs.
The Employment Rights Act lists the
$555,389 in prosecution costs. ■
a deadline for the arms company to agree to public bodies to which employees can dis- Swiss Regulator Probes
a plea bargain expired. close information about wrongdoing with-
The SFO needs to ask the attorney gen- out facing disciplinary action. An amend- UBS Bank’s Governance
eral, the government’s chief legal adviser,
for formal consent before it can start a pros-
ecution. It said it will prepare the neces-
ment to the Act that took effect on Oct. 1
adds the Financial Reporting Council to
the whistleblowing list, including three of
T he Swiss stock exchange is investigating
potential breaches of its corporate gov-
ernance rules at UBS, which just 14 months
sary paperwork for that request when “it is its subsidiaries: the Accountancy and Ac- ago overhauled its governance practices.
ready to proceed”—an indication that BAE tuarial Discipline Board, the Financial Re- SIX Exchange Regulation, which en-
still has a small window to plea bargain. porting Review Panel, and the Professional forces compliance with Switzerland’s listing
This latest twist in the SFO’s long-run- Oversight Board. rules, is looking into possible breaches of its
ning investigation into the arms company is To qualify for protection, a whistleblow- corporate governance directive in connec-
a major test of the agency’s determination er has to act in good faith and reasonably tion with UBS’ 2008 annual report.
to get tough on corruption, and to use plea believe that the information they disclose is It is also investigating possible breaches
bargains to settle cases early. substantially true and the wrongdoing falls of its ad hoc publicity directive—which
The current investigation relates to al- within the scope of FRC’s responsibilities. controls the disclosure of potentially price-
legations of corruption by the company in FRC Chief Executive Paul Boyle wel- sensitive information—by UBS from 2007
Africa and Eastern Europe. But the SFO’s comed the protection. “We hope that it to the end of 2008, as the corporate gover-
past failure to pursue corruption allegations will encourage those who have information nance directive