The UK's biggest defence manufacturer BAE Systems has been fined £280m in an out of court settlement over investigations into whether it paid bribes in Saudi Arabia and Tanzania.

The majority of the money will be paid to the US where BAE admitted misleading the authorities in relation to its controversial £40bn al-Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office dropped its investigation over the same deal in 2006 on the grounds that the investigation was threatening Britain's national security. Former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith comments on the outcome.