Despite
improvements in industry practices over the past three years, two thirds of the
world's major defence companies have received a “failing grade" for
combating corruption in their business operations, according to an anti-corruption
group.
Out of 163 companies
surveyed, Transparency International UK found 107 showed limited, or no
evidence of ethics and anti-corruption programmes.
However, 33
percent of corporations surveyed worldwide have improved significantly since
the Defence Companies Anti-Corruption Index was first published in 2012.
Global
military spending is roughly $1.6 trillion a year and any corruption in securing
government contracts not only pushes up costs for taxpayers but also risks
delivery of substandard equipment that endangers citizens' and soldiers' lives.
Four
American companies received top marks: Bechtel Corp, Fluor Corp, Lockheed
Martin and Raytheon. In 2012, Fluor was the sole company in the index to score
"A".
Fifty-seven
companies got an "F" grade.
Transparency
International UK’s report was particularly concerned with the French
corporation Dassault Aviation, which announced this month it is finalizing a
contract for 36 aircraft for India, a country with significant corruption
problems.
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| Dassault fighter jet (seen below) |
The report
also pointed to drone maker General Atomics, which scored 7 out of 100 for its
ethics and anti-corruption programmes.
Lockheed
Martin, which moved up from "C" in the previous survey, said it has
made a concerted effort to enhance its transparency and worked with other
aerospace companies to improve anti-corruption in the industry.
The index is
based on an analysis of publicly available information covering 41 topics, such
as anti-corruption training programmes and whistleblower provisions.
The
information was gathered from the company websites and public disclosure
statements.
The 2012
index surveyed 129 companies, and this year's index found that 26 of those
companies obtained top rankings, scoring an A or B, compared with only 10
previously.