Arms Giant BAE Systems To Take Over Irish Anti-fraud Company

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Friday January 14, 2011 11:30

by Anonymous

Today’s Daily Telegraph reports that shares of Dublin-based anti fraud software design company Norkom rose 32pc this morning to €2.04, following a statement by BAE that said Norkom's board had unanimously recommended a €2.10 per share bid from BAE for the company

The Telegraph quotes Ian King, BAE Systems chief executive, saying he hoped the merger would "result in a significantly enhanced offering for customers and present an opportunity for accelerated growth for the BAE Systems Group in the fast growing cyber and intelligence services sector."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industr....html

Norkom ,which was founded in 1998 , has ,according to its Wikipedia entry, developed technologies “that enables financial institutions to take intelligent action, control defences and evolve strategies against fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing and other types of financial crimes. “

Mr King is quoted in today’s Global Finance magazine saying ,
“Countering financial crime is a priority for governments and financial institutions. There is a compelling logic to the combination of [BAE ’s ]Detica’s NetReveal® product and the complementary capabilities and customer reach of Norkom. The combination will result in a significantly enhanced offering for customers and present an opportunity for accelerated growth for the BAE Systems Group in the fast growing cyber and intelligence services sector.”
http://www.gfmag.com/latestnews/latest-news-old.html?ne...065.0

BAe is of course no stranger to the world of financial crime and fraud. In 2010, the company pleaded guilty to a United States court to charges of false accounting and making misleading statements in connection with bribes it made to secure arms contracts to Saudi Arabia in what has come to be known as the Al Yamamah bribery scandal . Mike Turner, CEO of BAE Systems, admitted in August 2005 that BAE and its predecessor had earned £43 billion in twenty years from the contracts and that it could earn £40 billion more.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/bae

The UK based Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and The Corner House are currently challenging a specific clause in a deal struck between Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and BAE to settle a long-running corruption case in February 2010 over arms sales to Tanzania.CAAT is challenging what they term the "blanket immunity" granted to BAE systems by the SFO in a controversial plea bargain last year over £7.7m paid to two firms controlled by businessman Shailesh Vithlani ahead of BAE winning a £28m Tanzanian military radar contract.

Anti-arms trade campaigners argue that under the wording of the clause the immunity granted to BAE is extended to "any criminal conduct, including that unrelated to bribery, corruption and serious fraud and including that not disclosed by BAE to the SFO and is not limited to the alleged bribery that the SFO had been investigating."
See :
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/conte...99734
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/01/serious-...rgain

Commenting enthusiastically on the proposed BAE take-over offer of his company , Paul Kerley, Chief Executive Officer of Norkom told Global Finance :
“In completing this transaction Norkom will be further strengthened by the scale, reputation and resources of BAE Systems. I am delighted that within BAE Systems we have found a home for Norkom that shares the same enthusiasm and ambition to build a truly great company in a growing market space. Norkom's technology platform together with BAE Systems' complementary technology and rich knowledge of the security space will create a fantastic opportunity to bring additional offerings to the market. BAE Systems has an enviable record in how it values and respects the people that make it successful. It gives me great pleasure to see Norkom become part of BAE Systems’ family and I look forward to our continued success together.”
Se also:
http://www.norkom.com/press/press-releases/press-releas...=view