Finmeccanica ‘Improves’ in Anti-corruption Ranking, Despite Indian Bribery Charge

Finmeccanica has ‘improved’ its position in the international ranking of defense companies engaged in the fight against corruption, according to Transparency International (TI).

The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation CBI) is continuing with its investigation into the payment of bribes to secure a contract to sell AgustaWestland helicopters to the Indian Air Force. In October 2014, former Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi and ex-AgustaWestland head Bruno Spagnolini had been sentenced to two years in prison on charges of falsifying invoices in the deal.

Italian public prosecutor Eugenio Fusco had accused the two senior executives of falsifying invoices to route the bribe money. Both have been convicted for falsifying invoices, but not held guilty of corruption

As stated in the “Defense Companies Anti-Corruption Index 2015”, a research conducted by Transparency International,  Finmeccanica has progressed in terms of “leadership, governance and organization as well as risk management”, moving up into band B along with 22 international competitors, out of the 163 companies from 47 different countries included in the study.

Each company is ranked from band A to F. Band A includes only four U.S. companies. Finmeccanica moves from band C to band B and has the same rating as 12 other European companies, such as the Airbus Group, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and Thales.

Finmeccanica is one of 42 companies, whose anti-corruption measures have improved since the last report in 2012, gaining a gradually higher ranking in the Transparency International Defense Companies Anti-Corruption Index.

The Board of Directors of Finmeccanica has recently approved the “Anti-Corruption Code of Finmeccanica Group”, which is an integrated, structured system inspired to principles of integrity and transparency aimed at avoiding the risk of illegal practices in the conduct of corporate business and activities.

The Code completes the enhancement of internal controls, stated by the Board of Directors of Finmeccanica, in compliance with the legislation of reference and in line with industry best practices, with a special focus on preventing and fighting corruption. Special relevance is attached to the Whistleblowing Management Guidelines, which regulate disclosures, either qualified or anonymous, by anyone who may be aware of conducts against the law or the internal policies of the Group.