Rolls-Royce, the aircraft engine maker, warned yesterday that it faced the possibility of prosecution after the Serious Fraud Office and an internal investigation raised concerns about corruption and bribery in Indonesia, China and other overseas markets.
英国航空发动机生产商罗尔斯·罗伊斯(Rolls-Royce)昨日警告称，由于英国严重欺诈办公室(Serious Fraud Office，简称SFO)以及一项内部调查显示该公司可能在印尼、中国以及其他海外市场存在腐败和贿赂问题，它有可能被提起公诉。
The US Department of Justice had also been informed of the concerns, two people close to the matter said. The SFO, which investigates white-collar crime, must now decide whether to launch an official investigation that could result in prosecution of the company, individuals and potentially large fines.
两位知情人士表示，美国司法部(Department of Justice)也已被告知上述问题。负责调查白领犯罪行为的SFO现在必须决定是否展开正式调查，这可能导致罗尔斯·罗伊斯及相关人员被提起公诉并面临巨额罚款。
The SFO has been looking into Rolls-Royce for more than a year and earlier this year asked it for information regarding its concerns about bribery and corruption in Indonesia and China.
SFO在一年多时间里一直在调查罗尔斯·罗伊斯，并在今年早些时候要求其提供关于在印尼和中国涉嫌贿赂和腐败的信息。
This prompted Rolls-Royce to retain a law firm to launch a probe of its own. The company said in a statement it had handed the results to the SFO, noting: “Investigations by Rolls-Royce have identified matters of concern in these [Indonesia and China], and in other overseas markets.
这促使罗尔斯·罗伊斯聘请一家律所展开内部调查。该公司在一份声明中表示，它已将调查结果交给了SFO，并指出：“罗尔斯·罗伊斯的调查发现了在（印尼和中国）这些国家以及其他海外市场存在令人关切的问题。
But the US authorities could ultimately become Rolls-Royce’s biggest concern because the DoJ has a history of levying large fines on companies that break US bribery laws.
但美国当局可能最终成为罗尔斯·罗伊斯最大的担忧，因为美国司法部在历史上曾经对违反美国贿赂法的公司处以巨额罚款。
However, a mitigating factor is the likelihood that any transgressions by Rolls-Royce are more likely to have come from its civilian business rather than defence sales, according to analysts. This would likely reduce the size of any kickbacks paid and the political sensitivity of the issue.
然而，分析师们表示，一个减轻因素是，罗尔斯·罗伊斯的任何不当行为更有可能来自其民用业务，而不是防务销售。这使得相关回扣额不会太大，而且也降低了这一问题的政治敏感性。
The alleged corruption is said to have occurred both before and after the UK’s more stringent Bribery Act came into force in July 2011.
据悉，涉嫌的腐败行为不仅发生在2011年7月英国严厉的《反贿赂法》(Bribery Act)生效前，而且之后也有发生。
John Rishton, Rolls-Royce chief executive, said: “I want to make it crystal clear that neither I nor the board will tolerate improper business conduct of any sort and will take all necessary action to ensure compliance. Rolls-Royce said it had significantly strengthened compliance procedures. Its shares fell 3.1 per cent to 885p.
罗尔斯·罗伊斯首席执行官约翰·里斯顿(John Rishton)表示：“我希望清楚地表明，无论是我还是董事会都不会容忍任何类型的不当商业行为，并将采取所有必要的举措来确保合规。罗尔斯·罗伊斯表示，它大幅强化了合规流程。该公司股价下跌3.1%，至每股885便士。