Britain's highest court has ruled that the country's financial regulator acted lawfully when it halted a corruption inquiry into a multi-billion dollar contract between BAE Systems PLC and Saudi Arabia.The decision overturned an earlier finding by the High Court which criticised the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for ending the investigation, which Tony Blair, the then prime minister, said could jeopardise the so-called "war on terror". The SFO had been investigating allegations that BAE, one of the world's largest arms makers, ran a multi-million dollar "slush fund," offering sweeteners to officials from Saudi Arabia in return for lucrative contracts as part of the $65bn Al-Yamamah arms deal in the 1980s. But in 2006, Blair told the SFO to stop its investigation, saying it could threaten intelligence links with Saudi Arabia.
Britain's highest court has ruled that the country's financial regulator acted lawfully when it halted a corruption inquiry into a multi-billion dollar contract between BAE Systems PLC and Saudi Arabia.The decision overturned an earlier finding by the High Court which criticised the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for ending the investigation, which Tony Blair, the then prime minister, said could jeopardise the so-called "war on terror".
The SFO had been investigating allegations that BAE, one of the world's largest arms makers, ran a multi-million dollar "slush fund," offering sweeteners to officials from Saudi Arabia in return for lucrative contracts as part of the $65bn Al-Yamamah arms deal in the 1980s.
But in 2006, Blair told the SFO to stop its investigation, saying it could threaten intelligence links with Saudi Arabia.
