Largest corporate fine

In November 2012, the US Department of Justice handed out the largest fine in corporate history. BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill released millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico during April 2010, killed 11 of its workers and wrecked businesses across the south of the USA. BP’s settlement with the Justice Department meant that the oil group would have to pay $2.4 billion (£1.5 billion) to the US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, as well as a record criminal fine of $1.26 billion (£790 million). A total of $43 bn had already been set aside by the oil firm to cover costs related to the oil spill, but, as of December 2014, BP's fine was still expanding, with the total liability rising to $61 bn after a US judge ruled that BP had been guilty of gross negligence. The judgement, made in early September 2014, means that the company may be liable for a further $18 bn of fines on top of the $43 bn it has already paid out or put aside in fines or damages, and the $4 bn it agreed to pay in an earlier criminal case.