"That seems to be just a bit better than the current situation in the UK, now doesn't it?"
Superficially, perhaps.
The difference is that there was NO EVIDENCE OF ANY WRONGDOING BY BAE in this case, and that our most senior law officers judged that there were no charges to answer, and that there was no chance of a prosecution.
The other difference is that in Al Y BAE were operating as scrupulously as they could, trying to keep on the right side of the barely perceptible line between gifts/commissions and bribes in a culture in which the giving of gifts is seen as being entirely proper and honourable - and were not engaging in outright corruption on a domestic US programme (KC-767) nor in offering bribes to influence officials in European NATO countries, where gifts are not seen in the same light at all.