Scandal Heads North

Scandinavia has long prided itself on its immaculate corporate culture. Business is conducted by consensus, and greed is publicly frowned upon. But a series of scandals at some of the region's best-known companies has severely tarnished that image. Back in September, three top executives resigned from Norway's state oil company Statoil for their alleged part in arranging a $15 million "consulting contract" that police fear was used to bribe Iranian officials. Since early last year, Sweden's economic police have been investigating reports that some of the 421 store managers at Systembolaget, the country's state-owned liquor store monopoly, received bribes from liquor...