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Goldsmith defends global settlement in BAE inquiry
FORMER attorney general Lord Goldsmith this weekend defended the plea deal struck by arms manufacturer BAE Systems to settle inquiries into its dealings by the UK and US authorities.
On Friday BAE announced it would admit to two charges and pay fines of $447m (£286m) following probes by the Department of Justice and Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Goldsmith said the plea bargaining approach of the SFO had been the best way to work. He told the BBC: “This is one of the most significant things about this settlement, it is the first time there has been a plea bargain of this sort.”
BAE chairman Dick Olver said in future the company needed to be “transparent, modern and clean” .