IBM settles East Asian bribery case out of court

Big Blue pays out but neither admits nor denies bribing South Korean and Chinese officials

IBM has been accused of bribing officials in South Korea and China for more than a decade, and has said it will pay $10m (£6.14m) to settle the civil charges, according to the Wall Street Journal.

IBM neither admitted nor denied the charges, but said that it has taken "appropriate remedial action" to address the issues raised by the US government, according to the report.

US regulators took up the case against IBM, which includes allegations that IBM employees had handed over shopping bags stuffed with cash to officials in South Korea and taken Chinese government officials out on paid-for excursions in exchange for contracts worth millions of dollars.

The alleged "widespread" bribes were made by more than 100 employees of IBM and subsidiaries from 1998 to 2009.