Region: Saudi Arabia

The SEC has fined two employees of US-based defence contractor Flir Systems US$70,000 to settle charges that they bribed Saudi Arabian government officials.

18 November 2014

Anti-corruption campaigners have sent a letter to the UK’s attorney-general, Jeremy Wright, asking for the SFO to be given “full independence” in its investigation of alleged bribery in Saudi Arabia, and to avoid a repeat of the al-Yamamah affair, in which the prosecutor was told to drop its probe of BAE Systems due to national security concerns.

13 October 2014

A report by UK magazine Private Eye claims that the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) betrayed a whistleblower who reported evidence of corrupt payments in a defence contract in Saudi Arabia to them.

22 September 2014

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has interviewed four former and current staff at an Airbus subsidiary and two UK government officials in connection with a bribery investigation of the aircraft and defence manufacturer, according to a report in The Financial Times.

09 July 2014

Saudi Arabia’s parliament has asked its anti-corruption commission to investigate delays in a US$14 billion railway project linking Makkah and Medina, Gulf Business reports. The railway’s construction was originally due to be completed in 2012, but is now on track to finish US$2 billion over budget in 2016.

05 June 2014

Self-reporting foreign bribery violations in the Netherlands is virtually unheard of, but recent cases indicate attitudes are changing. Marieke Breijer investigates.

08 May 2014

Saudi Arabia’s latest effort in combating corruption is to promote defamation as a potential punishment. According to local daily Arab News, Saudi Arabia’s formal advisory body, the Shoura Council, is urging the National Anti-Corruption Commission to adapt its regulations to allow corrupt officials to be publicly named and shamed by publishing their photos and personal details.

13 March 2014