An inconvenient past

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probes of the matter.

BAE is trying to burnish its reputation, but it is all a bit languid. In June it set up a committee under Lord Woolf, a former chief justice, to examine its current conduct but not its past dealings. A more useful (if painful) approach might be to copy Siemens, a German firm which faced similar allegations of bribery and investigation in America. Siemens has brought in dozens of investigators and given them free rein to interview employees and search for documents. So far BAE has convinced the British government that looking closely at its affairs might imperil the public interest. America will be a tougher sell.