I very much doubt they are being investigated for giving away company branded mugs and pens. Such gifts do not fall foul of bribery and are part and parcel of sales goodies.

Being a global business, I am sure they will have clear legal policies, working practices and staff training in place and that training will cite all the prime examples listed above. Been there and done it. Aside from the fines, mud and dirt sticks causing long term damage to the company and it's integrity. Key contracts will be dropped and you will be de-selected as a supplier period.

And don't for one minute believe your backside is covered in trading via an intermediary, such as a local country sales agent, who knows the score. In the UK, company fines can be unlimited and people can face upto 10 years at Her Majesty's pleasure.

Today the rules are very clearly defined and every company ensures all staff are fully conversant with the various laws and company ethics pertaining to this so there is really no excuse any more for running foul of either the FCPA or the UK equivalent.

It can make operating in certain countries almost impossible due to their demands to use 'agents' for almost everything (China and Indonesia are prime examples) and often one just has to walk away.

The thing is no matter how clear the rule is or how many training videos are viewed, in practice black and white rules become gray and clear becomes muddy. In china, you can't get so much as an elevator inspection without help from a local "agent." ...and as excuses go... there are worse ones than everybody else is doing it. While that doesn't make it right, it does make it reality.
...and the irony of laws such as FCPA, that are enforced quite selectively and unevenly, is that they often encourage to corrupt behavior by enforcers of said Act.

Although some companies have better trinkets than others. :)

Here is the announcement made by SFO:

"Airbus Group investigation

8 August, 2016 | News Releases

The Director of the Serious Fraud Office has opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption in the civil aviation business of Airbus Group. These allegations relate to irregularities concerning third party consultants. If you have any information please contact us through our secure and confidential reporting channel.

Notes to editors:

When providing information please quote ‘Airbus investigation’ on the reporting form.
The SFO opened its investigation in July 2016.
The SFO can make no further comment at this time"

The investigation is therefore in respect of suspected offences under Bribery Act 2010 and Fraud Act 2006.

In March 1974 THY flight 981, a DC10 crashed into a forest outside Paris killing all 346 souls on board. We all know what caused the crash, but why did it happen has since faded from memory. How was it that THY ended up with an aircraft that should have been sold to All Nippon and why did was the order cancelled and All Nippon bought from Lockheed instead.
In evidence given in 1975-6 to the Senate Committee on Multi -National Corporations, Lockheed admitted paying $22.5 million in bribes to foreign government officials between 1969 and 1974. Of that amount, Lockheed said, $2 million was paid to Japanese Government officials to influence, among other things, the sale of Tristars to All Nippon.
Had it not been for this then the DC10, Ship 29, would have gone to All Nippon with the baggage door modification carried out and all those lives would not have been lost.
Bakshish is simply intolerable and hopefully in the above enactments there is sufficient clout to ensure that all those who practice it are served with porridge instead of caviar and champagne for breakfast for a long time.

Hmmm, I wonder if we will discover the real reason John Leahy sells so many Airbus Aircraft?

Khashoggi.

Aitken.

There are actual guidelines on what "trinkets" are acceptable, as well as free meals and the like. Boeing makes everyone take an on-line course every year on 'business courtesies' as to what's acceptable and what's not (with a note that if you're not sure to contact the Ethics department). And it goes both ways - what we can give and what we can receive (I've got a small collection of golf shirts courtesy of Pratt and Whitney that I've received over the years).
It's sometimes amusing - the US military has very strict rules, their people can't even accept coffee and donuts at a meeting. When we had a design review with the USAF for the KC-46 a few years ago, there was a table of coffee, pastries, etc. outside the door. There was also a cup where the USAF types were supposed to pay for what they took (and it actually had some money in it).

G-C:

.

Bless you.

Certainly right in line with current big company HR procedures which are there not so much to prevent the behavior but for standard corporate CYA.

I may be guilty of being a cynic with respect to this subject, but 99% of the time the non ethical behavior really starts at the top and trickles all through to all levels of the company. Pick your specific situation: unrealistic goals, off the record "coaching", pervasive corporate cultures.

...and after said employee actions become public..."but we showed him the training video. He knew what he was doing was wrong. At Goodoleboy Inc. we always strive for the highest ethical standards and blah blah blah..."

As someone said here, often from the top down - Goverment providing foreign aid to a country, with the proviso key contracts are placed back with provider nation suppliers - Bribery or just good business practice?

Utter stupidity and a waste of public money-all global corporations do this kind of thing including American ones. In this case its especially stupid since with the Brexit vote Airbus could decide f--k the Uk we will make the wings in France, end of the British Aircraft industry

All countries are corrupt they just go about it in different ways-in some places its the bag of cash in others its a knighthood (wonder where that might be)

There used to be a saying, "here (US), it is illegal, there, it is tax-deductible".

I think after Lockheed US companies got training in ways to do the same thing without cash changing hands. One of the beneficial consequences has been that major companies now even more generously fund scholarships at prestigious universities :)

Edmund

"Utter stupidity and a waste of public money-all global corporations do this kind of thing including American ones"

the point is that you shouldn't - once you start bribing people overseas you soon start doing the same at home - or at least thinking about it - so much easier than delivering a decent product at a decent price

HH-I dont disagree with you but my feelings are that its more the other waya round -bribery like charity starts at home its just that in the west its rather more subtle. Someone already made the point about Government aid.


Also these laws seem to be sued rather selectively and when Airbus UK was BAe owned (a company whose name is never far from allegations like this) all seemed to be well but now its Airbus owned suddenly the same business practices get called into question.

So SFO investigation into practices in the City of London which cost the economy Billions but put a few thousand jobs in the North at risk and thats Ok