The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has decided to continue its investigation of alleged corruption at Alstom as a major transatlantic takeover battle for the French engineering conglomerate reaches a climax, as reported the Financial Times on Saturday (14 June 2014).

The paper reported that the Attorney General had been approached and asked for advice on an investigation into alleged bribery and, following a review of the materials presented, has given permission for the SFO to prosecute the company and former employees for alleged overseas bribery if considered appropriate.

The paper also said the SFO has told seven individuals that they are under investigation.

The SFO and the Attorney General’s Office had no comment.

The FT stated the SFO originally began its investigations into the company over four years ago, and is at present liaising with the company for discussions which could pre-empt any decision to file charges. These may well include Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs), which would be the first major company use of such agreements should this happen.

The investigation, both in the UK and the USA, could not have been formally announced at a worse time, as Alstom is expected soon to receive a joint offer from Germany’s Siemens and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for its turbine businesses. How much of an impact these investigations and recent admissions in other countries into bribery and corruption will have is as yet unknown. This approach is intended to counter a $17 billion offer from US conglomerate General Electric for Alstom’s power arm.

An Alstom spokeswoman in Paris declined to comment on the specifics of the FT story but tellingly remarked, “Alstom continues to work constructively with the authorities to address any allegations of past misconduct.”

Alstom is also co-operating with the US Justice Department over allegations of bribery in Asia, and it is believed that it has evidence that a former Alstom executive tried to bribe officials to secure power projects in Indonesia, India and China.

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