SFO closes Rolls-Royce and GSK investigations

(Sharecast News) - The Serious Fraud Office has closed its investigations into alleged bribery at GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls-Royce, it said on Friday.While Rolls-Royce has already paid a £497.25m fine probe as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, where the company took responsibility for corrupt conduct spanning three decades in respect of bribery and corruption to win business in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Russia, Nigeria, China and Malaysia, the SFO investigation led it will not prosecute any individuals associated with the company. having carried out further investigation, reviewed the available evidence and carried out an assessment of the public interest."After an extensive and careful examination I have concluded that there is either insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction or it is not in the public interest to bring a prosecution in these cases," said Lisa Osofsky, director of the Serious Fraud Office. The GSK investigation focused on commercial practices by the company, its subsidiaries and associated persons, following accusations by China's Ministry of Public Security in 2104 that GSK of earnings billions of yuan illegally through "massive and systemic bribery".