- Transparency International UK analyzed 129 global defense firms
- Global corruption cost is at least $20 billion annually in defense sector, study says
- Just 10 firms received the top two grades
A large majority of the world's biggest defense companies do not provide enough evidence that they adequately prevent corruption, Transparency International UK said in a study on Thursday.
The pressure group analyzed the top 129 global defense firms and has published its Defense Companies Anti-Corruption Index, which grades from A to F how effectively companies combat corruption.
Almost two-thirds, or 85 companies out of 129, were judged to have inadequate information available on their anti-corruption policies, and scored the bottom grades of D, E or F.
"Two-thirds of the world's biggest defense companies do not provide enough public evidence about how they fight corruption," Transparency International UK said in a statement.
"This includes companies from all of the 10 largest arms exporting nations like USA, Russia, Germany, France, the UK and China -- who between them are responsible for over 90% of the arms sales around the world."
Those registering the bottom F grade included Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding, Aviation Industry Corp. of China, French arms manufacturer Nexter, Israel Military Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (IW 1000/279).
French aerospace group Dassault Aviation (IW 1000/727), Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (IW 1000/91) and U.S. naval defense group DCNS were among companies that scored an E grade.
Nearly half of companies, or 60 firms out of 129, scored the worst grades E and F, meaning that they had very little or no evidence of having basic systems in place to prevent corruption and instill strong ethical values.
