The practice of slipping bak-sheesh into a well-placed palm is not a novel one. "He...that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes...he shall dwell on high," said the prophet Isaiah, and he was doubtless not the first to comment on the matter. Yet the announcement on December 14th that Britain's Serious Fraud Office (sfo) would be dropping its two-year inquiry into bribes that may or may not have been paid by bae Systems, a defence firm, to secure contracts in Saudi Arabia has created an almighty stink (see page 45).
展开▼
