Corporate Germany is in the dock with scandals surrounding Siemens and Volkswagen. Te two scandals raise serious questions about German corporate culture, typified by cosy relationships between banks, companies and politicians.
Now for the fallout from the British Government decision to drop the corruption probe into a massive defence deal involving BAE Systems, the world's fourth largest defence contractor, and Saudi Arabia. The OECD will investigate and activist groups are suing.
The whining from auditors about getting liability caps is likely to get louder with news that troubled US mortgage finance company Fannie Mae is suing former auditor KPMG for $2 billion, close to 12 per cent of its revenues for 2006.
Authorities are investigating the German industrial conglomerate Siemens using slush funds to pay hundreds of millions of euros in bribes to obtain contracts around the world. The bribes probe has spread to at least six countries. Now it looks like Siemens might lose its spot on the anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International.
Accused of paying bribes to Saddam Hussein, executives from Australian wheat export agency AWB could face charges under anti-terror laws, but what about those footprints left by the Australian Government? AWB associates have also been linked to the Bush administration.
