UTC gets good grade on foreign ethics

An advocacy group assigned United Technologies Corp. a “B” for the level of its anti-corruption controls ”“ though its newest addition, Goodrich Corp., had only moderate measures in place.

UTC is Connecticut’s largest employer, with its subsidiaries including Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, a major defense exporter. The Hartford-based giant created a code of ethics in 1990 and extends those guidelines to its suppliers.

Irving, Texas-based Fluor Corp. was the lone company to win an “A” in an assessment of defense contractors’ corruption controls published by the United Kingdom-based Transparency International, and just eight others besides UTC received “B” grades of about 130 corporations.

In addition to Goodrich, which is now part of UTC Aerospace Systems, Fairfield-based General Electric Co. was among the defense contractors to receive a “C” from Transparency International. In 2010, GE was fined $23 million following an investigation into whether the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Iraq.

This past summer, the U.S. government hit UTC with $75 million in penalties, determining that subsidiaries Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Sundstrand knowingly exported helicopter control software to China that could be used in new military helicopters.

“Companies must have a reputation for zero tolerance to corruption,” said Lord George Robertson, former NATO secretary general, in a statement published by Transparency International. “A corruption scandal can wipe away the decades spent building a reputation. By having the right anti-corruption systems in place, companies can avoid a drop in stock prices, blacklists, and even prison. It is in their interest to take action.”