Rolls-Royce agrees to pay £671m over bribery claims

Derby-based manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce has said it will pay out £671m in penalties after coming to an agreement with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and a Leniency Agreement with Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal (MPF).

The news comes after a long-running investigation into claims that Rolls-Royce bribed agents to win export contracts.

Rolls-Royce said it has agreed to make payments to the DoJ totalling $169,917,710 and to the MPF totalling $25,579,179. Under the terms of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the SFO, Rolls-Royce will pay £497,252,645 plus interest under a schedule lasting up to five years, plus a payment in respect of the SFO’s costs.

The payments mean that the firm will avoid being prosecuted in the UK, US and Brazil over the claims, although individual employees of Rolls-Royce could still be charged.

A statement from the firm read: “Rolls-Royce has co-operated fully with the authorities and will continue to do so.

“These agreements relate to bribery and corruption involving intermediaries in a number of overseas markets, concerns about which the company passed to the SFO from 2012 onwards. These are voluntary agreements which result in the suspension of a prosecution provided that the company fulfils certain requirements, including the payment of a financial penalty.”

Rolls-Royce said it will report full year 2016 results on February 14, 2017. It says early indications are that the Group has had a good finish to the year with both profit and, in particular, cash expected to be ahead of expectations.

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